The land tenure system in Bangladesh: trends, challenges and options for reforms
Laskar Muqsudur Rahman,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bangladesh is predominantly an agrarian country. Due to its very fertile land and favorable
weather, varieties of crops grow abundantly in this land. The agricultural and rural sector
in Bangladesh plays a vital role in the sustained food and livelihood security of its large and
ever-growing population. Agriculture is the largest employment sector in Bangladesh. The
performance of this sector has an overwhelming impact on major macroeconomic objectives.
Bangladesh’s rural economy, and specifically agriculture, has been powerful drivers of poverty
reduction in Bangladesh since 2000. Indeed, agriculture accounted for 90 percent of the
reduction in poverty between 2005 and 2010 (World Bank 2016). It is claimed that every year
about one per cent of farm land in the country is being converted to non-agricultural uses. Such
high rate of conversion will not only hamper agricultural production but will have adverse
impact on food security (Quasem 2011). Aims of the paper is to review the past history current
trend of land tenure in Bangladesh and provide thoughts for reforms.
Event: Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2019
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