Seminar stresses further boost to farm sector

The government should focus on further developing the agricultural sector and consider local realities while formulating economic policies to improve the condition of the poor in Bangladesh, a seminar in Dhaka was told yesterday.
Speakers also pointed out the government needs to immediately start work on the issues over land reforms and develop human resources to make ways to eradicate poverty.
“The government should start working on land reforms to ensure an access to capital for poor people. This would help them to be more productive and increase their participation in the national economy,” said Robin Burgess, an Economics professor at the London School of Economics and co-director of the International Growth Centre.
The seminar on 'Operationalising Pro-Poor Growth' was organised by the Institute of Microfinance (InM) at its auditorium in Dhaka.
Burgess conducted a study on the state of the Indian pro-poor people and related that study to the economic condition of Bangladesh, due to the geographical closeness and quite similar economies of the two countries.
He pointed at the limited growth of the agricultural sector in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in the last few years and said, “In this situation, if Bangladesh doubles its efforts to develop the agricultural sector, it would help the country reduce its dependency on India for food items.”
“The government should also formulate a long term policy to turn the burdens of a large population to skilled human capital. They should also ensure better access to technology as well,” he said.
“In addition, the government should ensure high quality education and training, in order to develop skilled human resources,” he added.
Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, an economist and president of InM, and Professor Baqi Khalily, executive director of InM, were present at the seminar.