Webinar on Contribution of the marginal population, farmers and women in agricultural development
Agriculture is a ray of hope in this time of the coronavirus crisis. It is one of the most important means for us to overcome this crisis. We will need effective agricultural reforms to ensure sustainable agricultural development. We need to implement an agricultural policy and a law to protect agricultural land. The labour of the marginal population and women must be given due recognition.
These views were expressed at a roundtable jointly organised on Sunday by Prothom Alo and the non-government organisation Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD). The virtual meeting on the ‘Contribution of the marginal population, farmers and women in agricultural development’ was directly coordinated by the Prothom Alo digital studio.
Speaking as chief guest at the meeting, land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said, it is because of the government’s initiatives in the development of agriculture and in the interests of the farmers that Bangladesh has managed to become self-reliant in food.
Land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said, The government is going ahead with agricultural development, planning for the next 50 years, he said. Initiative had been taken to review the land act and to create a data bank regarding khas land. The government was also working on according due recognition to women for their contribution to agriculture.
The Chakma raja, Barrister Debashish Roy, mentioned that the people of Chittagong Hill Tracts were not receiving adequate relief from the government during these times of coronavirus. There was a shortage of food supply in the hills. Many of the hill people there were unemployed due to coronavirus. He said that they required government assistance.
Sadeka Halim, dean of Dhaka University’s social science faculty, said that 94 percent of the owners of cropland were men and 6 percent were women. Yet women contributed 70 percent of the agricultural labour. This discrimination would have to be removed.
Presenting the key note at the roundtable, Ekushey Padak winner and professor of Chittagong University, Moinul Islam, said that over the past decade or so, there had been a revolution in the agricultural sector. This was made possible by the tireless labour of the farmers, the availability of agricultural implements and appropriate government policy. Bangladesh was now self-reliant in the main food requirements including rice, potatoes, vegetables and fish. It ranked fourth in global rice production, third in fresh water fish and fourth in vegetables. However, if this was to be maintained, the farmers would have to be assured of fair prices for their produce.
Chief executive of BELA, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, said politically powerful people were grabbing the land of the marginal farmers. Repeated cultivation of the same crop on the same land was decreasing the land’s fertility. Excessive use of pesticides was rendering the soil toxic. If this continued, it would not be possible to sustain agricultural development.
Professor Moinul Islam went on to say, 82 percent of the Bangladesh’s farmers had become landless. Industrial firms, wealthy persons as well as corrupt bureaucrats and politicians had bought up vast amounts of land. As a result, unless land reforms were brought about, it would not be possible to hold in to this agricultural productivity.
At the opening over the roundtable, Prothom Alo’s associate editor Abdul Quayum said there are around 18 to 19 different sorts of work in agriculture and women did 15 to 16 of these tasks. If the country’s development was to be sustainable, agricultural would have to be prioritised above all.
ALRD’s deputy executive director Rowshan Jahan Moni said, in most cases the poor people are not getting the khas land which the government is officially allotting to the poor rural families. And the land of many indigenous people is being enlisted as khas land. The forest department brings about all sorts of cases against the indigenous people and this harassment must be stopped.
Khushi Kabir of Nijera Kori, speaking at the meeting, said that the time for the aman crop is ahead and that is where the focus should be. However, there are no signs of what the government is doing in this regard.
Chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Syeda Rizwana Hasan, said that on one hand it was true that our crop production was increasing, but on the other hand, there was the question as to how long we would be able to keep this up. Politically powerful and influential people were grabbing the cropland of the marginal farmers. At the same time, repeated cultivation of the same crop on the same land was decreasing the land’s fertility. Excessive use of pesticides was rendering the soil toxic. If this continued, it would not be possible to sustain the agricultural development. She called upon the government to immediately implement the agricultural land protection act.
General secretary of the Adivasi Forum, Sanjib Drong, said that there should be a policy regarding the indigenous people of the country. Unless the development of the indigenous people in the plains and the hills was ensured, the overall development of the country would not be sustainable.
Professor Shafiq Uz Zaman of Dhaka University’s department of economics, said Bangladesh’s agricultural sector would have to be linked with industry. A link was needed between the agricultural products and the international market or else the farmers would not get a fair price for their produce.
Executive director of ALRD, Shamsul Huda, said that the coronavirus experience has taught us that there is no alternative to agriculture in the days to come. But almost all the agricultural labour was now dependent on women and the marginal population. They must be given legal recognition. Agriculture must be kept at the centre of development in the days ahead.
The roundtable was moderated by Prothom Alo’s assistant editor Firoz Choudhury.
