Promoting Agrifood Sector Transformation In Bangladesh

Dietary patterns are changing in Bangladesh, and the demand for diverse, safe, and nutritious food is growing. To meet this additional demand, productive diversification in agriculture, and modernization along the agri-food value chain are needed.

The “Institutionalisation of food safety in Bangladesh for safer food” project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented between 2013 and December 2019, had as main objective to support the operationalisation of the newly established Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA). Support provided helped BFSA to define its role, objectives and activities, and to strengthen its capacities. The project also contributed to enhance institutional coordination and define mechanisms for establishing standards and regulations. Important advances were made in raising public awareness on the importance of food safety. The project also helped create a strong drive to adopt an integrated ‘farm-to-fork’ approach in the poultry and mango sectors. The introduction of a BSc degree course in food safety management is an important achievement for medium and long-term capacity development. Awareness was raised on the need for a risk-based approach with regard to allocating public resources for food control and inspection. More efforts should be made to integrate the principles of risk analysis applicable to food safety systems and to develop data collection and processing skills, risk ranking and risk assessment tools.

Bangladesh experienced strong annual economic growth of 6.6 percent between 2009 and 2019 (BBS 2021). While the global COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant growth slowdown in 2020, growth started to recover in 2021. However, the recovery was hampered by global commodity market disruptions related to the war in Ukraine beginning in 2022 and the global recession in 2023 (Arndt et al. 2023; Diao and Thurlow 2023). The World Bank (2023) projects growth of 5.2 percent for 2023 and 6.2 percent for 2024, which is slower than the country’s pre-pandemic growth rate. Rapid growth in the past has already led to significant structural shifts in Bangladesh’s economy along with a transformation within the agrifood system (AFS). In this brief, we unpack these trends and future projections further to understand how Bangladesh’s AFS is contributing to growth and transformation in the country.

This country sector assessment shows how rapid economic growth and climate change are impacting Bangladesh’s agriculture, natural resources, and rural development sector, and outlines ways the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping foster greater food security. With agriculture generating over 40% of jobs, it analyzes changing demand patterns, shows how the pandemic and food price rises have hit the sector, and explores how increasing production and adding value can help reduce rural poverty. It outlines how ADB is focusing on deepening value chains and agricultural commercialization, plus improving rural connectivity and natural resource management, to help improve livelihoods and bolster resilient rural development.

This book focuses on socio-economic developments of Bangladesh by challenging the dominant international narrative of the case being termed as “development surprise”, “development paradox” or “development conundrum,” given the absence of good governance. In doing so, the book examines the political economic dynamics and offers valuable insights into the current state of the Bangladeshi economy in light of stability, transformability and sustainability. Pointing to the ‘high’ rate of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in Bangladesh, there is wide belief that economic growth can be obtained even without functioning institutions, and is more important than an inclusive political system. Advocates go on to argue that authoritarianism may be condoned as long as a steady course of development is perused. However, the inadequacy of comparative analysis in to the state of the economy of Bangladesh vis-à-vis other relevant economies makes such claims myopic and parochial. This book thus investigates the numbers and narratives to ascertain the validity of such assertions and lamentations by looking at the necessary and sufficient conditions of development. The necessary conditions imply an incisive inquiry into the factors of economic growth— land, labour, capital and technology while sufficient conditions warrant a penetrating incisive inquiry into the factors of economic growth— land, labour, capital and technology. As such, the book explores development by drawing variables of politics and economics to find out a causal relationship, and interjects these variables have on themes such as growth, agriculture, manufacturing industry, financial sector, health, education, poverty and inequality.

The economic and social development that Bangladesh has achieved in the past two decades has made Bangladesh a development paradox. This book tries to explain this paradox through a political economy lens. The book explains the linkages between the state, changing society and emerging private sector, and examines whether the social transformation taking place in Bangladesh has the potential to live up to the expectations of a middle- income country. The early part of the book unravels the myriad relations between the state, society and market to project the aspirations of a newly independent nation. It analyzes how political turmoil, militarization of politics, politicization of institutions, reforms initiatives, industrial and social development policies, and the power nexus influenced the nature of the political economy of Bangladesh. The book goes on to examine how domestic appetite for capital and raw materials, the digital revolution, and the capacity of the local market to absorb expanded economic activities have created an environment that catalyzes innovation and entrepreneurship. The book also explains how the country has attempted to transform from an agrarian to a manufacturing- based economy, with rapid growth in the ready- made garment industry, pisciculture, pharmaceuticals and the ICT sector. Bangladesh’s journey from an emerging economy towards a developed country would interest those researching on development economics and those in policy making.

Why Agriculture Productivity Falls: The Political Economy of Agrarian Transition in Developing Countries offers a new explanation for the decline in agricultural productivity in developing countries. Transcending the conventional approaches to understanding productivity using agricultural inputs and factors of production, this work brings in the role of formal and informal institutions that govern transactions, property rights, and accumulation. This more robust methodology leads to a comprehensive, well-balanced lens to perceive agrarian transition in developing countries. It argues that the existing process of accumulation has resulted in nonsustainable agriculture because of market failures—the result of asymmetries of power, diseconomies of scale, and unstable property rights. The book covers the historical shifts in land relations, productivity, and class relations that have led to present-day challenges in sustainability. The result is arrested productivity growth. Agrarian transition should be understood in the context of the wider economic development in society, including how political settlement and primitive accumulation inhibited the kind of property rights that encourage growth. Why Agriculture Productivity Falls is a much-needed corrective to the traditional understanding, because before we can increase productivity, we must understand the root causes of those challenges.

Food systems are at a critical juncture—they are evolving quickly to meet growing and changing demand but are not serving everyone’s needs. Building more inclusive food systems can bring a wide range of economic and development benefits to all people, especially the poor and disadvantaged. IFPRI’s 2020 Global Food Policy Report examines the policies and investments and the growing range of tools and technologies that can promote inclusion. Chapters examine the imperative of inclusion, challenges faced by smallholders, youth, women, and conflict-affected people, and the opportunities offered by expanding agrifood value chains and national food system transformations. Critical questions addressed include: How can inclusive food systems help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and malnutrition? \What can be done to strengthen the midstream of food value chains to improve rural access to jobs, markets, and services? Will Africa’s food systems generate sufficient jobs for the growing youth population? How can women be empowered within food system processes, from household decisions to policymaking? Can refugees and other conflict-affected people be integrated into food systems to help them rebuild their lives? How can national food system transformations contribute to greater dietary diversity, food safety, and food quality for all? Regional sections look at how inclusion can be improved around the world in 2020 and beyond. The report also presents interesting trends revealed by IFPRI’s food policy indicators and datasets.