Bangladesh

Kenya has offered Bangladesh to take advantage of the African nation's vast farmland for food production as Bangladesh has developed good expertise and demonstrated immense success in the field.

South Sudan's Deputy Minister for Foreign and International Cooperation Deng Dau Deng Malek placed the proposal in a meeting with Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque in Dhaka.

The Government of Bangladesh has decided to acquire land in Sudan in a bid to explore commercial farming opportunities in the Northeast African country.

Foreign Affairs Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Tuesday told Parliament that Bangladesh had started ‘contract farming’ in the African countries with appointment of 11 Bangladeshi farmers in Zambia.

Zambia has granted 250 hectares of land to Bangladeshi investors who will invest more than US$1 million in the development of agriculture in Mwansabombwe District in Luapula Province.

Myanmar officials have proposed to Bangladesh to invest in agriculture in their country as it has a lot of arable lands for this purpose. The Myanmar government also said they were ready to give long-term lease of land to Bangladeshi entrepreneurs for agricultural purposes from which both the countries would benefit.

Bangladesh yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Sudan to take a 10-year lease on Sudanese farmland to grow crops aimed at ensuring food security of both the countries.

Myanmar diplomatically bypassed a Bangladesh proposal last year for taking agricultural land on lease for cultivation in that country.

“End Landgrabbing! was declared by the participants of the “South Asian Caravan on Climate, Gender, and Food Sovereignty 2011” that went from North to South Bangladesh.

Bangladesh officials are in preliminary talks with Ukraine for wheat production, considering Cambodia for rice and visiting parts of sub-Saharan Africa to explore similar ventures.

Last week, Uganda received a 35 man business delegation from India interested in the country’s agribusiness potential and boosting its exploits. Mr Ramakrishna Karuturi, the leader of the delegation, said the team intends to invest up to $2 billion in agribusiness pending the issue of investment licences.

The government of Bangladesh has taken a fresh move to re-evaluate the proposed contract farming agreement for food-grain production in Africa to meet the country's demand.