The
most ancient profession of human civilization is agriculture. This sector is
consisting of four segments: crops, livestock, fisheries, and forests.
Bangladesh geographic location is in favor to agricultural growth and this
opportunity has led to employment for 41.2% rural labor force.
Covid-19
pandemic has completely shattered the livelihood of agriculture based
workforce. As the sector is highly labor intensive and the pandemic requires
social distances so the situation is beyond complex. The necessity of
agricultural production is unquestionable to ensure food on each of our plate. Mr.
Shykh Seraj a devoted Bangladeshi agriculture development activist suggested to
farmers to keep distance of at least five rows during harvest. At present, Rabi
crops are already matured and it needs to be moved as the production is time
bound. But the labor force is scattered and most of the workers are seasonal in
this sector. Good news is, Bangladesh government has already given a nationwide
call to assist farmers to mitigate the losses from labor shortages. The overall
agro supply-chain network is impacted largely as the transportation is under
lockdown in certain areas.
The
most challenging phase for our agriculture sector comes after the pandemic.
There is no scope to deny that, Bangladesh upward going GDP growth in the
fiscal year 2019-2020 is likely to plunge. Without a recovery plan for the post
pandemic, we will face acute challenges and may not rebound in FY2021. It is also
expected that global economy will face an upside down. So, people’s consumption
will decrease, investment curve will be downward and overall aggregate demands
will fall. All of these will impact our agricultural exports and farmers
individual income as well. The best policy to recover from this is to increase government investment in affected
sectors; such as boosting our frozen fish sector which is country's fourth
largest export earning entity. It has recently faced order cancellations of
$597.78 million in last month. Government has to provide proper incentives to revive
these sectors once again.
Family
farming is very common here. Generation after generations our farmer have been
involved in this profession. According
to UN, family farming is an essential component to make the farming sector is sustainable.
Family farmers produce 70% of the world’s food. The three pillars of
sustainability – environmental, economic and social aspect can be easily
maintained through ensuring the existence of family farming. Unlike U.S; where
farmland is used for single crops production (monoculture), our farmers are
accustomed to polyculture form of agriculture.
These farmers hold the traditional knowledge of sustainable agriculture.
They rely on natural fertilizer and have a better understanding of how the
natural landscape works. Although we don’t use automation completely but the farmers
unique skillset has contributed so far in today’s growth. As Covid19 has
disrupted their profession, many farmers are now quitting on the traditional
profession and searching for new jobs to adapt. Their next generation are
discouraged to follow their footsteps. To combat this rising crisis govt. has
taken initiatives by offering different incentives program to accommodate their
needs and cope up their financial losses. Prime Minister has announced Tk 5,000
cr. stimulus package for agriculture sector. This is undoubtedly a praiseworthy
initiative if this stimulus packages are well managed and distributed to the
family farmers in time during and post covid-19 period. So, we must ensure a proper distribution of
stimulus to the needy one.
The dependency on imported pesticides
has to be reduced in post-covid-19 era. In 2017, Bangladesh
imported more than 15,106 tonnes of active ingredients to formulate 37,187
tonnes of pesticide products which is almost 6 per cent rise in pesticide
supply compared to the year before. Because of Covid-19, the import process is
delayed and it has impacted our farmers ability to cultivate. The soil and food
nutrients are also degraded because of the usage of pesticides. A small number
of livestock animal can be integrated with the farm to provide nutrient for the
soil. Local made compost fertilizer should be used widely instead of chemical
pesticides. These pesticides also increase the price of the final goods whereas
local composts (vermicomposting) are relatively much cheaper and sustainable
way.
In
early 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and U.S. embargo, Cuba came
out as today’s role model of sustainable agriculture towards global food
security. This happened out of necessity
and Cuba adopted this due to the lack of oil-based pesticides and fertilizers. Only
effective coordination and planning with root level stakeholders can ensure
this sustainable agriculture practice which will also contribute to achieve SDG
2 for Bangladesh.
The
price of agricultural goods may fall down in coming days but the seeds or
inputs that requires for production are not in decline. So, Government has to monitor the market price
strictly to ensure that farmers get their necessary items at fair and
affordable price. The concept Farmers
market should be more popularized so that famers can buy and sell goods
directly to buyers and get more profit without intervene of middlemen. Active participation from the young
generation is must for innovation in this sector. They are the key to
create a resilient and value oriented supply-chain network.
The
one thing that, covid-19 has clearly said out loud is everything can be
uncertain. No matter how much food a person stock for future, it will run out
and the supply may eventually fail to cope with demand. Our bloodline ties with
farmers so, it’s time to meet with our roots. We all can contribute a little to be part of a sustainable agriculture
system. Urban farming such as roof top/balcony gardening, vertical faming
and biofloc technology can play a vital role to transform this sector to a
sustainable one.
Apart
from all the chaos, pandemics are once in a generation opportunity to rebuild
an entirely new approach. History shows us that, each epidemic has changed the
course of human civilization in certain ways. Covid-19 demand for a change so,
lets ensure a sustainable agriculture for the next generation out of it.
REFERENCES
-
Ovi,
I. H. (2020, March 25). Coronavirus: $597m frozen fish export orders
cancelled. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2020/03/25/coronavirus-597m-frozen-fish-export-orders-cancelled
-
Family
farming as a sure way to ensure sustainable food production. (2016, August 4).
Retrieved from http://www.inadesformation.net/en/poltical-influence/family-farming-as-a-sure-way-to-ensure-sustainable-food-production/
-
Seraj,
S. (2020, April 24). Ensure food security for their survival. The Daily Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/country/news/ensure-food-security-their-survival-1896103
-
Hasnin,
N. (2020, May 12). Impact of Coronavirus on Livelihoods: Rural and Low-Income
Population of Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.lightcastlebd.com/insights/2020/05/12/impact-of-coronavirus-on-livelihoods-rural-and-low-income-population-of-bangladesh-2
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