Agriculture and Land Distribution in South Asia
Formerly a part of British India, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is a mid-sized country located along the Bay of Bengal in South Asia. Upon independence from the British Empire in 1947, the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into a country for the Hindus (India) and a country for the Muslims (Pakistan). Until 1971, when it achieved national independence, Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan and governed as a province from Islamabad. Currently, the country has a total territory of approximately 148.500 square kilometers, which is somewhat smaller than the state of Iowa. Plains and river deltas descending upon the 580 kilometers of Indian Ocean coastline alongside some hills dominate Bangladesh’s landscape. Likewise, the country has a total population of 156.2 million citizens, about 34% of which live in an urban setting. Even though the capital city of Dhaka has almost 18 million inhabitants, Bangladesh is amongst the minority of countries in the world where most of the population lives in a rural setting. The national annual gross domestic product (GDP) is little over US$600 billion (PPP) and the country has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 6.0% in recent years. The Bangladeshi economy is divided into 15% agriculture, 29% manufacturing, and 56% services. Similarly, it is estimated that the agricultural industry employs 47% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 13% and services employ another 40%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes 70% of the national territory, while another 11% is forested.
In terms of natural resources, Bangladesh has natural gas, arable land, timber, and coal. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on cotton & garments, paper, leather, fertilizer, iron & steel, cement, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, tea, salt, sugar, oils, detergents, metal products, and electricity. Simultaneously, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit, beef, milk, and poultry. During 2015, Bangladesh imported US$38.3 billion worth of goods and exported US$35.7 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$2.6 billion. Furthermore, that same year, Bangladesh’s main export, representing 90% or US$32.3 billion of the country’s total, were textiles, mainly knit and non-knit sweaters and t-shirts. Likewise, the country’s main import, representing 26% or US$9.9 billion of all international purchases, were also textiles, mainly raw cotton for the confection of garments. In terms of trade, Bangladesh’s main partners are China, India, the United States, and the European Union.
Agriculture and Land Distribution in South Asia
Unfortunately, in Bangladesh, approximately 26 million people suffer from undernourishment. In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Bangladeshi population has been of 10 grams daily. Meanwhile, cereals, roots, and tubers supply 80% of the average food energy intake in the country. Land distribution in Bangladesh has also evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered 600.000 hectares, while arable land covered 8.6 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for 275.000 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows accounted for 600.000 hectares, while arable land represented 7.7 million hectares and permanent crops covered 830.000 hectares.
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