It is incontrovertible that agriculture has been at the core of Bangladesh as a nation, the bedrock of our economy. Despite the tremendous progress we have made in the five decades it has been since we earned our sovereignty, we still remain a largely agrarian nation built on the backs of our hard-working farmers.
While it is unfortunate that the industry has long been denied the kind of focus reserved for more traditionally export-oriented ones such as RMG, to bring our agriculture to its next level it is crucial to employ practices which makes it more sustainable as an industry while also employing climate-friendly practices given Bangladesh’s climate-vulnerable nature.
To that end, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent statement about giving Bangladesh’s farm products in a bid to increase its diversity is wholly welcome, as it would go quite a long way to ensure that Bangladesh becomes entirely self-reliant when it comes to food production.
In the same breath, the PM’s assertion that our agricultural products can play a vital role in diversifying our export basket is astute. The continued diversification of our country’s export basket has been a long-coveted goal for us, and to be able to capitalize on our agrarian expertise to achieve that would align well with an important component of our national identity.
However, it is important that any such investment in our agriculture be made in cognizance of climate change -- never has it been more important for farming practices to become more environmentally conscious, since the detrimental effects of climate change end up affecting farmers and their livelihoods the most.
When talking about farming and agriculture, the rising threat of climate change cannot be understated.
