Bangladesh eyes big opportunities abroad through ‘contract farming’: foreign minister

Bangladesh wants to move fast in a coordinated way to explore opportunities in "contract farming", especially taking advantage of farming in the Middle East and greater African landscape, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said today.

"I know that countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, and the stretches of both the Maghreb and the Sub-Saharan Africa might be fertile areas to explore possibilities in this regard," he said at a lecture on "Contract Farming and Job Opportunity for Bangladesh Abroad" held at Bangabandhu Research Centre for Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (Foreign Service Academy).

Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam also spoke at the event while Ambassador Golam Moshi delivered a keynote speech.

A fact-finding mission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2010, led by the then foreign secretary, visited Ivory Coast, Latvia, Senegal and Ghana to explore possibilities of contract farming in African countries.

The Mission found that the production of rice, wheat, cotton, coffee etc. would be feasible and profitable for our investors in those countries, said Dr Momen.

Bangladesh initiated "contract farming" in the African countries with the appointment of 11 Bangladeshi farmers of "Bhati Bangla Agritech" in Zambia, in 2016.

Nitol-Niloy Group and Bhati Bangla Agritech Ltd had also been working in some other African countries cultivating food grains.