Prof. Dr. Akbaruddin Ahmad :
Bangladesh on an annual basis is battered by floods, tidal surges and earthquakes that have become more frequent since the recent past. The over 300 rivers and alluvial soil with annual siltation of land and low lying areas have become a boon for the agricultural sector. With high yielding varieties of seeds and improvement in the food production practices, Bangladesh has become self sufficient in food output and has started exports of aromatic rice in a limited scale. Food production partially supported its population of 70 million in 1971.
Bangladesh with 160 million population and a smaller land mass the food output has increased three times to cater to the increasing demand of food grains in a growing population. Land earlier used for agriculture is now partly used for homesteads and factories. The adoption of modern technology and research has placed Bangladesh as one the highest per hectare output food grain producing country in the world. It has surpassed India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
Bangladesh is considered as one of the most densely populated country in the world with only 147,500 sq.km land mass. It has the largest mangrove forest in the world well known as the Sundarbans with a biodiversity and home to the famous Royal Bengal Tiger. Cox’s Bazar with 125 km of unbroken longest sea beach in the world flowing gradually in the blue waters of the massive Bay of Bengal an attractive tourist destination. The cultural, archeological and heritage sites have made Bangladesh a popular tourist hub. The per capita income has risen to US$ 1386 and has become a lower middle income country. The resilience of its population is praiseworthy.
Despite all the natural calamities the highly resilient people are motivated to move ahead facing all odds and rebuild their homes and carry on with the farming activities within two months of a severe tidal bore or cyclone.
The women are trained as garments factory workers that has made Bangladesh as the top exporter worldwide with around US$ 40 billion in exports. For the girls the education up to degree level is free and for the boys it is free up to high school level. Standard of living of the general masses have improved considerably and there is no case of deaths on account of famine or malnutrition. Health care system in Bangladesh have expanded to the rural areas with hospitals and clinics for mother and child. Child and maternal mortality rate has fallen drastically to 55 per 1000 due to better treatment facilities.
The GDP growth has been over 6% for a decade and is now projected at 7.2% for the fiscal year 2016-17. Agriculture is the mainstay of majority people in Bangladesh. Nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, 52% percent of the civilian labor force of the country is engaged in agriculture and 14% is engaged in industry. Agriculture contributes to about 20% of the GDP. The country has made laudable progress in agricultural development and food production in the recent decade. Within the agricultural sector, the crop sub-sector contributes to 57%, followed by fisheries (22%), livestock (17%), forestry and fruits (8%). Rice crops cover 75% of the cropping areas and contribute over 95% to the total food grain production. All of these activities accounted for 17% of Gross Domestic Product.
With its growing population and economy Bangladesh depends mainly on agriculture that is largely dependent on seasonal weather patterns and climatic conditions. This sector greatly influences the overall macroeconomic position of the nation which are the following: poverty alleviation, improvement of health situation, food security and employment generation (IMF) the largest sector in the Bangladesh economy is agriculture. For the agricultural sector specialized financial institutions are providing agricultural credits to the farmers. The procedure is simplified in order to get all the farmers open a bank account with a minimum of Tk.10 deposit.
The Bangladesh Bank and other government banks like Janata, Rupali, Agrani, Sonali and Krishi banks and the private and foreign commercial banks have been directed by the Bangladesh Bank to provide agricultural credit facilities at a reduced interest rate to support the farmers boost their output. The global climate change has also had a negative impact on the farming pattern in Bangladesh. Scientists at the Rice Research Centre have introduced high yielding and flood resistant varieties of seeds for rice cultivation to the benefit of the farming community in general and the country as a whole. The prevalence of heavy rainfall, floods, extreme temperature patterns and droughts have slowly changed the cropping patterns.
These phenomena will adversely affect the country’s agricultural system through :- (a) reduction of crop productivity(Quantity/quality) (b) Changes of water use (irrigation); land use; migration (c) increased frequency/intensity of floods water logging, soil erosion and salinity have made the farming communities highly vulnerable and resilient.
Besides the climate variability and uncertainties (such as temperature rise and erratic rainfall), the major weather and climate related extremes are frequent floods and river erosion, cyclones and tidal surges, salinity, drought, heat waves, cold and fog and water logging. The key features relating to geophysical conditions and climate change. The emerging climate change is having an impact on the food security of the poor and marginal sections.
Protection of biodiversity and improvement of the environment for preservation of the natural resources of the nation is a basic requirement of the country’s constitution. Usage of advanced technologies that include satellite imageries and computer assisted systems has given due importance for enhancing the capabilities of weather forecasting system. Local traditional and indigenous policies have become a practice for engaging stakeholders and policy makers for mitigating impacts of floods and adaptation of resilient agricultural and food security policies.
(The writer is Chairman Policy Research Centre bd. (PRC.bd) & Chairman (Admn) NAPSIPAG (Network of Universities & Institutes of Public Administration and Governance of the Asia Pacific Region).
