Anisur Rahman Khan :
At least one percent agricultural land is being wasted in Bangladesh every year because of unplanned urbanization and development works. This is posing a serious threat to the country’s food security.
Besides, huge lands are being used in rural areas for making homestead and a law is needed to regulate such construction of houses, which would help to protect cultivable lands, experts observed.
According to them, Bangladesh needs to develop its economy, but at the same time the departments concerned have to give importance on environment and ecology during implementation of development projects.
An effective strategy is also needed to check the country’s fast-shrinking arable land and thus maintain the momentum in increasing its food grains production, experts opined.
Experts further said the loss of agricultural land would not help to boost the production and the department concerned must find out a proper solution to resolve the problems.
“Still we are in a good position in South Asia in food production-but we are far behind China and Vietnam on the matter,” Dr Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director of Policy Research Institute (PRI) told The New Nation on Tuesday.
He said it is a total failure of the government in terms of land use in rural areas.
“The government should introduce community living system in certain rural areas like European countries. Before it, a law is needed and the law should be applied strictly. Hence, we can save our arable lands and production will increase,” Dr Mansur said in reply to a query.
The government must give importance on environment while giving permission to allow any industrial or development work, he added.
Dr Mansur said, “Our land is very limited-if the losing rate is crossed two per cent per annum, it would create a major impact on country’s food security.”
The government took up many projects for the country’s economic progress, but many projects created adverse impact on country’s environment too, Abu Naser Khan, President of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA) told this correspondent.
He said, “Roads and rail lines are being constructed on some fertile arable lands in the country. No doubt, we need such developments-but it should be kept in mind that there will be no ecological problems following the projects.”
If arable lands are destroyed in the name of development projects-it would create a serious threat for food security in future, he said in reply to a query.
According to experts, as for Bangladesh, the long-term outlook appears to be bleak as unplanned growth of population is complicating the process of meeting the demand for food, basic health requirements and educational facilities – triggering unemployment and social unrest.
There will be no cultivable land left in Bangladesh in 50 years if the process of taking away farmland for non-farm purposes at the current annual rate continues. If the trend is not reversed now, the country would permanently lose its food security, making its poor population more vulnerable to volatile international commodity prices, the experts opined.
Experts said such decline in arable land is worrisome. They suggested the authorities concerned should go for regular surveys of arable land to present an accurate figure so that necessary steps in this regard. It is quite a gigantic task, but it should be done at regular intervals.
They also suggest the non-government organisations (NGOs) operating in the countryside need to supplement the government efforts to develop the agricultural sector which accounts for 16 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Earlier on May 11, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin said that Bangladesh is losing around 69,000 hectares of land every year due to industrialisation, unplanned urbanisation and increase in rural settlements.
Taking part in ‘Round table 2 – Land restoration: A path to sustainable post pandemic recovery’ in the conference of the parties (COP-15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), he said one third of Bangladesh lies on the coast exposed to tidal flooding, which leads to increased salinity.
Besides, forced migration of one million people from neighbouring country to Bangladesh has also created enormous threat to its land, life, environment, biodiversity, forest and ecosystems, he added.
