Lack of data, research behind rural knowledge gaps: experts

There are huge knowledge gaps on rural issues including its transformations and agricultural potentials due to a lack of up-to-date data and adequate research, said experts yesterday.

These gaps should now be reduced to turn those areasinto the future drivers of Bangladesh's growth, they told a webinar on "How rural is rural Bangladesh?" organised by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC).

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

PPRC Executive Chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman said there were many untapped potentials in rural areasthat should be focused on.

He said there was a big knowledge gap on rural transformations. "I think it is very important for researchers to come back to restudy rural dynamics. We need new analysis to determine the emerging middle class in the rural areas," he said. 

Besides, studies should be conducted on other areas, such as on determining the quality and contributions of rural infrastructure and potentials of agriculture, Rahman said.

He said there was also issues of the political and economic powers in rural areas. The private sector is joining to this end, enabling rural transformation as a whole new actor, he said.

Rahman said the studies should also be focused on how the private sector was faring and what were their dynamics. "I think understanding these issues is very essential," he said.

He said farmers have a different connotation and presence in India. "Even they have a big presence in politics. But there is no affiliation of farmers in our country for the contemporary period," he said.  

"So there is an issue regarding the socio-political-economic category. I think it is an important issue of the knowledge gap," he said.

Rahman said there was huge untapped potentials in the rural context. "To tap the resources, we have to connect. Scientists, policymakers and investors –all have to come together," he said.

"We need to rethink rural sector as the future growth driver. It seems this is the time to rethink the issue. It (rethinking) may be happening at the field level but not at the policy level as much yet," he said.

Highlighting other issues that need to be addressed, he said there was a lot of talk but the dots were not being connected. "I think we should have a collective agenda to get the potential of the rural through appropriate research and articulation," he said. 

Taking part in the discussion, Geof Wood, professor emeritus of international development at the University of Bath in the UK, said he completely agreed that there was a serious knowledge gap on different rural issues.

MA Sattar Mandal, professor emeritus at Bangladesh Agricultural University; Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman and chief executive officer of Pran-RFL Group, and faculty members Sanjida Akter of the University of Dhaka and Abul Hossain of Green University also spoke as panel discussants.