The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

A latest World Bank report said that Bangladesh should aim a 4 per cent growth per year in its agricultural sector if it wants to achieve the objective of halving extreme poverty by 2015.

"Achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty to 26.5 per cent by 2015 will require a growth rate of at least 4.0 per cent in agriculture and 7.0 per cent in the non-farm sector," the World Development Report released on October 19 said.

Country's growth in the agricultural sector in the last fiscal year was 3.18 per cent.

The report said nearly 80 per cent of country's total 140 million people live in rural areas. Poverty in Bangladesh was primarily a rural phenomenon with 53 per cent of the rural population classified as poor, comprising about 85 per cent of all the country's poor.

The agricultural and rural sectors have suffered from "neglect and under investment over the past 20 years," the report added.

It said agriculture could offer pathways out of poverty if efforts were made to increase productivity in staple foods.

Pointing out that land was becoming "a scarce commodity" in Bangladesh, the World Bank report said there was a need to review land administration, ownership distribution, rights and titles, and land use policy.

Turning to rural services, it said improving physical and social infrastructure -- roads, electricity, communication, water and sanitation, health and education -- in rural areas was fundamental for promoting employment opportunities and welfare.

"Bangladesh has a long way to go to meet infrastructure needs, such as electricity, which is only available to 15 per cent of villages," the report said.