Bangladesh is a country located in South Asia. With the exception of a small portion of land bordering Burma in the east, Bangladesh is bordered by India on all sides. The country opens to the Bay of Bengal on the South. Bangladesh was a part of the Bengal province of India in the early 1900s, until the eastern part was partitioned in 1905, by the British raj. Although the province was again reunited in 1911 the precedence of communal difference was set by the 1905 move. When India gained independence from British rule in 1947 it was divided into Pakistan and Hindustan (India). The modern day Bangladesh was part of Pakistan from 1947 for 24 years until it gained independence in 1971 (Ahsan, 2005).
Bangladesh occupies a total area of 143,998 square kilometers and a population of 156,050,883 (CIA, 2010). Bangladesh is one of the most densest places on earth, with a population density of …..(source). Its population growth rate is about 1.292% (CIA, 2010). Bangladesh is a homogenous country with 98% of its population Bengali and 2% include people from other tribal groups and Non-Bengali (1998). The religious composition is as follows: Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9% (2004). Bangladesh comes third, after Pakistan and Indonesia among countries having the largest Muslim population in the world (National Geographic). Poverty is widespread, and almost half of all Bangladeshis live on less than $1 a day.
Rich soils yield three rice harvests a year, but major cyclones cause storm surges that smash into the delta, sweeping people, livestock, and crops from the lowlands. In 1970 a cyclone killed more than 300,000 people along the coast, and in 2007 Cyclone Sidr caused thousands of deaths along with significant damage to the country's infrastructure. Monsoon rains also cause frequent flooding of Bangladesh's lowlands. On average, about one-third of the country floods during the rainy season. Earthquakes, droughts, and landslides also occur.
2. Status of Development Based on Measurements and Indicators of Development
The economy of Bangladesh has averaged an annual growth rate of 5-6% since 1996. This growth rate has been achieved by Bangladesh by maintaining macroeconomic stabilizing measures, market deregulation, financial deregulation (World Bank) despite facing political turmoil, weak infrastructure, corruption, and lack of energy (CIA). Furthermore, the high rate of growth has also been facilitated by the sound investment made towards increasing social and human capital. Some key statistics on human development are given in Table 1.
As can be derived from the table, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in key indicators such as infant mortality rates have reduced drastically by 70%, the population growth rate have halved, and measures such as life expectancy at birth and female-male school enrollment ratio have improved.
The structure of the Bangladeshi economy is predominantly service oriented. The GDP share of the service, industry, and agriculture sectors are 52.5%, 28.5%, and 19% respectively. However agriculture remains an important sector for its economy since about 45% of Bangladeshis are employed in it. (source: cia.gov). Agriculture in Bangladesh is weather dependent and effects of natural disasters can be distressing. The main crop of production is rice, which is also a staple diet of Bangladesh.
Over 36.3% of the population live below the poverty line (definition in Bangladesh). Bangladesh has a gini coefficient of 33.2 as of 2005.
According to Political Risk services, 63% of the total Bangladeshi labor force is involved in the agricultural sector (2008). The unemployment statistics of Bangladesh is low that shades the problem of under-employment in Bangladesh. Due to a low level of skills and productivity that reduces its comparative advantage in manufacture of labor-intensive goodness due to its abundant supply of cheap labor.
3. Analysis of Development Problems and Policy Issues
Despite making significant progress in improving and sustaining a relatively high growth rate and improving the numbers across the board for most human development indicators, Bangladesh still faces some critical problems that needs to be addressed. We have identified four major problems that Bangladesh needs to address in order to move towards a sustainable economic development frame. The following four issues will be discussed:
i. Declining Productivity in Agriculture
ii. Skill Constraints and Quality Problems in Higher Education
iii. Urbanization
iv. …….
Declining Productivity in Agriculture
Agriculture is the most important sector in Bangladesh, as more than 45% of the population is employed in it (cia.gov). The major crops in Bangladesh are rice, wheat, and jute. Between 1981 and 2006, agriculture had an average growth rate of 2.9%, which is higher than the rate of population growth. Due to investments in irrigation, distribution of better quality seeds and fertilizer, and provision of incentives to farmers for domestic production, rice production has more than doubled (World Bank 55).
An increase in rice production, a staple diet of Bangladesh, and the acceptable growth of agriculture output in the last 20 years has made a significant contribution to the food security problem in Bangladesh. However, due to a decreasing land base for agriculture due to the increasing urbanization, agriculture productivity will be lacking in the coming years. The still increasing population and the diminishing land for cultivation due to the recent phenomenon of swift urbanization poses a problem for the future.
Although emphasis in rice production has alleviated the food security problem to some extent, there is still a lack of significant diversification in the agriculture sector. Due to the high growth rates enjoyed by Bangladesh, and the ensuing urbanization process, consumer tastes have changed to reflect more value added products (World Bank, 2008). According to the World Bank, "consumers are now buying more high-value foods such as fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, and processed products" (2008, xiii) The market for dairy, meat, and other cash crops have therefore, increased. The increased diversification in agriculture has the potential to improve rural income for farmers, which can be utilized by them to invest in human capital such as health and education.
Additionally, the growing global demand for high-value foods holds great promise for Bangladesh. During the early 2000s, when the global demand for seafood was second only to fruits and vegetables, Bangladesh took advantage of this and became a competitive supplier of seafood. Successes such as this can be replicated, but there are a number of challenges that need to be addressed first. Firstly, the issue of comparative advantage is very important.
Skill constraints and low quality of tertiary education
Every year, the labor force in Bangladesh increases by roughly 2 million people. This is mainly attributed to the demographic transition in that is causing more youths entering the labor market. The second reason is due to a cultural transition whereby it is not uncommon to see more and more women entering the labor force each year, yet another factor in the rising number of people in the market. While it has been said the labor is "Bangladesh's most precious resource", the unemployment rate in Bangladesh is 4.3%. This rate is even higher for more educated labor force (World Bank, 2007).
