Bangladesh, despite all of its progress, remains an agricultural land; with its extremely high population density and the increasingly volatile state of food security across the planet, there is no time more important than the present to fortify our agriculture sector.
To that end, we appreciate Bangladesh Bank setting the agri credit disbursement target at Tk35,000 crore which is 13.6% higher than the previous year’s target.
While increasing credit is indeed important, what is more important is ensuring that this reaches the right people and across the right channels without any issues or bottlenecks.
Too often in the past, we have seen improper use of funds and mostly smaller and marginal parties unable to access credit.
While it has been encouraging to see the change, there remain discrepancies with regard to supporting more marginal farmers, and it is an area which requires attention. Smaller farmers, much like any other smaller businesses, are the heart and soul of a nation such as ours -- and we must not turn a blind eye to their needs.
With regard to the credit targets at present, it has been good to see thought being put into diversifying our agriculture, with allocations made not only across fisheries and livestock as well, but recognizing our capacity to provide export-oriented products such as crabs or avocados.
As Bangladesh continues to progress as a nation, agriculture must remain at the heart of our progress. However, it also goes without saying that how we proceed with agriculture, from the technology to be used, to the policies being set, must be compatible with present times.
