Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Sunday stressed on implementation of the master plan for agricultural development in the southern region for ensuring future food security of the country.
“As the government of Bangladesh with the technical assistance of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has prepared the master plan for a period of 2013 to 2021 and the implementation of the plan is essential for ensuring sustainable food security, poverty reduction and livelihood development for the poor”, the minister said.
The finance minister said this as the chief guest while he was addressing at the presentation of the Master Plan for Agricultural Development in the Southern Region of Bangladesh at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) here this morning.
The Southern Region has generally been identified the most disadvantaged area in terms of adverse impacts of climate change and the entire region is beset with problems like frequent occurrence of cyclones, salinity, food insecurity, environmental vulnerability and limited livelihood opportunities, he said.
“Targeted interventions for the economic upliftment of the Southern Region are a must”, the minister added.
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury also spoke at the programme as the special guest while ERD secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin presided over.
Terming the plan As a time-befitting initiative by the present government, Muhith said despite various limitation and vulnerabilities, the region has considerable potential to improve the productivity of crops, livestock and fisheries with better use of technology and improved management practices.
ERD secretary gave a welcome address while Agriculture secretary Nazmul Hossain presented the salient feature of the master plan.
About implementation of the plan, Matia Chowdhury said the overall implementation of the master plan would bring out a tremendous change in the livelihood of the people living at the coastal districts.
The meeting also discussed about the deficits in resource allocation for implementation of the plan—-still there remains a wide deficit of 81 per cent of fund required for implementation of the Master Plan. So far the total available fund is around 18.8 per cent that comes from sources of the non-ADP and funds from ADP.
Ten major components have been identified in the master plan for agricultural development of the southern region are crops, horticulture and agro-forestry, fisheries, livestock, nutrition, water management, polder management, drainage improvement , agribusiness, agricultural credit and capacity building.
The master plan covers 27 per cent of the area and 21 per cent of the population under 14 southern districts of the country. The districts are Barisal, Patuakhali, Satkhira, Barguna, Khulna, Pirojpur, Lakshmipur, Feni, Bhola, Noakhali, Jhalokati, Bagerhat, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.
The total cost for implementation of the plan would require Taka 5,78,026 crore. The Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the Miinistry of Water Resources, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and Ministry of Environment and Forest developed a comprehensive master plan for the agricultural development in the south for a duration of 10 years.
High officials from different ministries, planning commission members, representatives from different development partners agencies including UNDP, USAID and CIDA and different non-government organizations, among others, attended the function.
