Farmers’ Congress 2024: Championing Agricultural Reform and Sustainability in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the Rural Economic and Social Welfare Organization (RESWO) and The Asia Foundation held a grand farmers’ congress in Chuadanga on June 22 as a part of its South Asia Governance Program (SAGP). Since 2021, the SAGP project, “Ensuring Good Governance in Agricultural Services and Farmer Empowerment Project (Chasabad),” has formed farmers’ alliances and committees in 12 Unions of 4 upazilas (sub-districts) in Chuadanga. This non-political alliance has been working to uphold and advocate for farmers’ rights both widely and during crisis situations, ensuring transparency and accountability in public services towards farmers since its inception. The congress aimed to increase farmer awareness of agricultural public services and rights, improve accountability and accessibility of these services, mitigate climate change risks, and promote sustainable farming practices.
Audience at the farmers’ congress. (Photo: RESWO)
Key attendees at the event included the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency Chuadanga-1, Solaiman Haque Joarder, the ex-director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, the district deputy director of the Office of Agricultural Extension, the program director of The Asia Foundation.
The Member of Parliament of Constituency-1 in Chuadanga, Solaiman Haque Joarder, delivers his speech as the chief guest. (Photo: RESWO)
During the congress, the President of the farmers’ alliance presented demands to the MP and officials of the Agricultural Extension, including the establishment of soil test laboratories, vegetable cold storage facilities, the fixing and implementation of fair irrigation rates, reducing the waste of underground water, developing a planned irrigation system, and creating a flexible agricultural calendar. The farmers’ alliance also called for upgrading M. S. Zoha Krishi College in Chuadanga to an Agriculture University, providing subsidies in diesel and fertilizer exclusively for farmers, protecting farmers’ lives from lightning through various measures, and initiating grain insurance management.
The event featured a rally, stalls of the farmers’ alliance displaying produced goods and crops, and performances to inspire farmers to avail themselves of public services and submit demands for establishing a fair and implementable rate for irrigation, fertilizers, and crops. The farmers’ alliance encouraged attendees to employ better technologies, replace chemical fertilizers with bio-fertilizers, and seek advice from agricultural offices, utilizing the Grievance Redress System (GRS) for complaints at different levels.
A farmers’ alliance rally outside the event venue. (Photo: RESWO)
Recent achievements as a result of the alliance’s efforts and advocacy include the Ministry of Textiles and Jute in Bangladesh issuing a notice on July 31, 2022, allowing jute retting in the Bhairab River and other canals during the water scarcity season, and the launch of a mobile court in August 2022 to monitor and penalize dishonest fertilizer dealers. Additionally, since the formation of the committees, Upazila Executive Offices has set up 19 lightning shelters across 4 different Upazilas, installed tube wells in crop fields to prevent farmers from heat strokes, and fixed fair rates for irrigation services on June 12, 2022.
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