Other Agriculture Study
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Publication
Sindh’s Livestock: Getting to Know an Important but Neglected Sector
(Washington, DC, 2022-05)The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive landscaping review of the livestock sub-sector in Sindh, as well as an analysis of past and ongoing interventions and lessons learned, to identify possible opportunities for supporting private sector-driven growth of the livestock sub-sector to ultimately achieve the 3 objectives of inclusive, competitive, and green development of livestock value chains. The main sources of information were the available bibliography as well as interviews with stakeholders. alone generates 36 percent of this amount. This calls for adequate measures to reduce livestock emissions through better feeding and manure management. The main environmental threat posed by livestock comes from the cattle colonies located in the suburbs of major cities, which generate massive pollution of surface and groundwater, pose a very high risk of disease outbreak and represent a major public health problem. The main domains that would require further investigation in order to draw a more comprehensive and detailed picture of the livestock sub-sector in Sindh will be: (i) access to finance and insurance, (ii) a meat and poultry value chain analysis, (iii) gender aspects in livestock value chains, and (iv) anassessment of emissions and mitigations opportunities. -
Publication
Promoting Agri-Food Sector Transformation in Bangladesh: Policy and Investment Priorities
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05-27)The agriculture sector has been critically important in reducing poverty in Bangladesh, and further progress in agriculture will remain important as Bangladesh’s economy continues to evolve. Declining agricultural productivity growth poses substantial risk to the development of the rural economy. There are substantial market opportunities for productive diversification and increased value addition for the agri-food sector in Bangladesh. The agri-food ecosystem analysis carried out for this study identifies critical constraints to the diversification and modernization of the agri-food sector. The Covid-19 (Coronavirus) crisis has hit Bangladesh’s economy and its agri-food sector hard and lasting impacts can be expected on the sector. The overall aim of this report is to identify policy and public investment opportunities for increasing agricultural diversification and creating an enabling business environment for private sector investment along the agri-food supply chain using the maximizing finance for development (MFD) framework. The report is intended to provide guidance to the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) to implement and operationalize the strategic priorities of agricultural diversification and commercialization, as outlined in national agricultural policy 2018, to improve farms’ incomes, create rural jobs, and attain nutrition security in the country. The report is also intended to inform the World Bank’s strategies and dialogue for agriculture and rural development in Bangladesh and sharpen priorities for future engagement on agri-food sector modernization initiatives. -
Publication
Grow Solar, Save Water, Double Farmer Income: An Innovative Approach to Addressing Water-Energy-Agriculture Nexus in Rajasthan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-01)The key objective of this study is to explore practical, politically feasible, scalable, and sustainable approaches to address the challenge of adverse water-energy-agriculture nexus in Rajasthan. Advancements in solar and communication technologies have opened new possibilities to take a fresh look at the nexus and realign the incentives and interests of the farmers, power utilities, the government, and other stakeholders to create win-win opportunities. This study presents alternatives that have the potential to achieve the trifecta of increased irrigation energy efficiency, water conservation, and doubling farmer income. The study is in five chapters. Chapter one lays out the objectives of the study. Chapter two presents the sectoral and nexus context and an approach to review sectoral policies in a nexus framework. Chapter three presents alternatives for addressing the challenges posed by adverse nexus, and potential business models. Chapter four examines the comparative advantages and disadvantages of three institutional models for implementation. Chapter five presents the study’s conclusions and recommendations. -
Publication
Bangladesh Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan: Investment Opportunities in the Agriculture Sector’s Transition to a Climate Resilient Growth Path
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06-26)Bangladesh’s agriculture sector is the country’s main source of food security, employment, and poverty alleviation. More than 70 percent of Bangladesh’s population and 77 percent of its workforce lives in rural areas. Nearly half of all Bangladeshi workers and two-thirds of workers in rural areas are directly employed in agriculture. About 87 percent of the nation’s rural households rely on agriculture for at least part of their income. With one of the fastest rates of productivity growth in the world (averaging 2.7 percent per year since 1995, second only to China), Bangladesh’s agriculture sector accounted for 90 percent of the country’s reduction in poverty between 2005 and 2010. This growth has also allowed the country to triple its rice production since it gained independence in 1971 and to halve its food deficit, and with it the number of malnourished people, since the mid-1990s. In 1991, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshi children were underweight; today that number is less than one-third. Bangladesh faces growing demand for food and pressure from rapid land use change including significant losses of arable land. Population increases to an estimated 186 million by 2030 and 202 million by 2050, increasing income levels, and rapid urbanization at a rate of 3.5 percent annually 1 are expected to shift diets away from rice and wheat toward animal-based diets. At the same time, while Bangladesh produces almost all its own rice, current yield trends indicate production will not be able to satisfy growing demand for cereals (including rice), which is projected to increase 21 percent by 2030 and 24 percent by 2050. Given the increasing population density and continued loss of arable land caused by urbanization and other factors, enhancing the productivity of rice and other staple foods remains crucial. These trends suggest that Bangladesh must sustainably increase food production on far less arable land per capita to continue to strive for self-sufficiency in agricultural production. The World Bank considers climate-smart agriculture (CSA) a strategic priority investment in response to climate change in agriculture. The executive directors of the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group have recognized the need to address several concerning trends in the world’s poorest countries, including the growing demand for food, the unsustainable pressure of current agricultural practices on agricultural landscapes, the increasing threat of climate change to agricultural productivity, and agriculture’s significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. -
Publication
Bangladesh: Agricultural Insurance Solutions Appraisal Technical Report
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-12-17)Agriculture is a key sector in Bangladesh, but it is highly exposed to risks. While agriculture is a source of employment and livelihood for nearly one in two adults in Bangladesh and contributes about 16 percent to GDP, it is highly exposed to natural hazards. Indeed, Bangladesh is commonly ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural disasters with agriculture heavily exposed to floods, cyclones, and drought. In 2007, for instance, Cyclone Sidr destroyed 0.69 million ha of cultivated crop lands and killed over 460,000 head of livestock and poultry.In the past, the government of Bangladesh and development partners have provided substantialsupport to farmers in the aftermath of large disasters, but this approach has disadvantages in that support is not guaranteed to farmers and may be slow. In the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr,recovery and reconstruction needs were estimated at USD 1.3 billion, or 28 percent of governmentexpenditures. In spite of efforts by the government of Bangladesh, the gap between available funding and needs is often large and can reach more than USD 1.5 billion in bad years (Air Worldwide and ADPC 2014). Bangladesh often relies on international assistance, as over the past ten years, only 33 percent of disaster-related expenses has been met by domestic resources. In addition, disaster relief transfers often take substantial time to reach beneficiaries and require to divert resources away from long term development projects. Agricultural insurance offers the government a planned, fast, ex ante alternative to ad hoc disaster response, one that (1) reduces the ex post fiscal burden on the government, (2) improves farmers’ resilience to shocks, and (3) supports the expansion of agricultural credit. Every five years on average in Bangladesh, production shocks lead to a drop of up to 50 percent in crop income available for consumption in average rural households. This drop pushes many small- and medium- scale farmers into poverty. Although many Bangladeshi farmers can access credit, their exposure to risks makes formal financial institutions reluctant to lend to them, so that most farmers borrow from informal lenders at average annual interest rates ranging from 19 percent to 30 percent. Agricultural insurance transfers risk away from farmers, and therefore benefits financial institutions and the government of Bangladesh as well as the farmers themselves. -
Publication
Bangladesh: Policy Options for Crop and Livestock and Aquaculture Insurance
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-12-12)Agriculture is a key sector in Bangladesh, but it is highly exposed to risks. While agriculture is a source of employment and livelihood for nearly one in two adults in Bangladesh and contributes about 16 percent to GDP, it is highly exposed to natural hazards. Indeed, Bangladesh is commonly ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural disasters with agriculture heavily exposed to floods, cyclones, and drought. In 2007, for instance, Cyclone Sidr destroyed 0.69 million hectares of cultivated crop lands and killed over 460,000 head of livestock and poultry. In the past, the government of Bangladesh and development partners have provided substantial support to farmers in the aftermath of large disasters, but this approach has disadvantages in that support is not guaranteed to farmers and may be slow. In the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr, recovery and reconstruction needs were estimated at USD 1.3 billion, or 28 percent of government expenditures. In spite of efforts by the government of Bangladesh, the gap between available funding and needs is often large and can reach more than USD 1.5 billion in bad years (Air Worldwide and ADPC 2014). Bangladesh often relies on international assistance, as over the past ten years, only 33 percent of disaster-related expenses has been met by domestic resources. In addition, disaster relief transfers often take substantial time to reach beneficiaries and require to divert resources away from long term development projects. If the Government of Bangladesh decided to go ahead with support for agriculture insurance, high-level buy-in from a broad range of stakeholders will be necessary, as will partnerships with the private sector. Government may consider: strengthening the overall legal, regulatory, and supervisory insurance environment; developing a centralized database of data for agricultural insurance purposes; provision of financial support to the program, particularly in the early stages of the program; and establishing a dedicated technical team within government with responsibility for implementation and for providing input to policy. One option for consideration would be for some or all of these activities to be carried out through a project with technical support and/or financial assistance of a development partner with adequate expertise in this field, such as the World Bank Group. -
Publication
Bangladesh: Agriculture Insurance Situation Analysis
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018)Agriculture is key in Bangladesh but highly exposed to risks.The Government provides significant support to agriculture, but currently provides limited support to the development of agriculture insurance.While the Government and external donors spend large amounts of money in the aftermath of disasters – average annual costs of disasters are USD 300 million - the funding gap is still high and can reach more than USD 1.5 billion in bad years.In spite of Government’s efforts, credit to agriculture is still constrained and represents 3 percent of total lending.If agriculture insurance programs were to be developed in Bangladesh, the overall legal, regulatory and supervisory insurance environment would require strengthening.Based on this preliminary assessment and discussions with key stakeholders, the WBG will prepare a technical report and policy briefing for Bangladesh Ministry of Finance’s Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) on four potential types of agricultural insurance programs which have been identified through this situational analysis as priority solutions for further investigation. The four priority areas identified for further investigation are: (1) Livestock insurance for commercial dairy farmers and poultry farmers; (2) Insurance cover for shrimp producers and artisanal fishermen; (3) Crop insurance linked to credit for small and marginal cereal farmers; and (4) Fully subsidized flood-index insurance for the most vulnerable rural households. The diagnostic reports will also analyze potential institutional frameworks that could be considered for agricultural insurance in Bangladesh, paying specific attention to the potential roles for the Government and insurers. -
Publication
Bangladesh: Policy Options for Agriculture Insurance
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018)Agriculture is a key sector in Bangladesh, but it is highly exposed to risks. While agriculture is a source of employment and livelihood for nearly one in two adults in Bangladesh and contributes about 16 percent to gross domestic product (GDP), it is highly exposed to natural hazards. In the past, the government of Bangladesh and development partners have provided substantial support to farmers in the aftermath of large disasters, but this approach has disadvantages in that support is not guaranteed to farmers and may be slow. Agricultural insurance offers the government a planned, fast, ex ante alternative to ad hoc disaster response, one that: (1) reduces the ex post fiscal burden on the government, (2) improves farmers’ resilience to shocks, and (3) supports the expansion of agricultural credit. International experience shows that government can play a variety of roles to support the responsible scale-up of agriculture insurance. The ministry of livestock and fisheries, and other key public and private sector stakeholders, the World Bank Group team has identified four potential types of agricultural insurance to offer in Bangladesh, all of which will require implementation through a partnership between the public and private sectors. The four types are dairy cattle insurance, aquaculture insurance, crop insurance, and fully subsidized agricultural insurance for the most vulnerable. -
Publication
India - Unlocking Agribusiness for Inclusive Growth, Jobs, and More: Policy and Investment Priorities
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-07-01)Major changes are occurring in the Indian economy that should inform public policy and investments in the food sector. The main drivers of changes occurring in the Indian economy include rising per capita incomes and urbanization. These patterns have led to increased demand for food and food services, including postharvest management activities, food retailing, and restaurants. Aggregate demand for food has increased, and consumption patterns are shifting toward fresh fruits and vegetables, processed foods, and ready-to-eat foods and meals. To meet the emerging demand, farmers need to respond by not only diversifying production toward foods with increasing demand but also with postharvest management. The objective of this report is to identify policy and investment priorities in agribusiness to stimulate inclusive growth and jobs. The study ultimately seeks to inform strategic dialogue between the government of India and the World Bank Group toward investments in postharvest management and other segments of agribusiness. The report provides building blocks to identify priorities for policy and investment. After a brief introduction (chapter 1), chapter 2 presents a framework to understand the role of agribusiness in development. Chapter 3 provides estimates of productivity and capital investment gaps in various subsectors of agribusiness and simulates the effects of bridging those gaps on macroeconomic indicators, sectoral growth, and jobs. Chapter 4 provides lessons on using agribusiness to improve nutrition. Chapter 5 provides lessons on promoting cold chain development. Chapter 6 provides lessons on promoting agroprocessing. Chapter 7 provides lessons on promoting inclusive value chains for modern food retailing. Finally, chapter 8 provides policy and investment priorities in agribusiness based on the main findings of the report. -
Publication
Afghanistan Unlocking the Potential of Horticulture: Discussion Note and Input to Agribusiness Jobs Charter
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-06)Afghanistan possesses a rich horticultural history, with a number of unique products, such as dried fruit, that are still renowned in various parts of the world. The period of conflict that has plagued Afghanistan for the past 40 years has, however, severely disrupted supply chains and markets for horticultural products and, in particular, hindered the ability of traders and producers to export products to high-value markets. The following sections provide an overview of the horticultural sector in Afghanistan and its various components. Section 1.1 describes the history and economic importance of horticulture in Afghanistan; section 1.2 describes the endowments and infrastructure that support the production and trade of horticultural crops in Afghanistan; section 1.3 presents an overview of the nature of horticultural inputs in Afghanistan and details methods for producing horticultural crops; section 1.4 describes the structure of post-harvest activities; section 1.5 reviews the processing and marketing of horticultural products in Afghanistan; section 1.6 presents and overview of the recent performance of the horticulture sector in Afghanistan; and section 1.7 describes recent and current policies and programs focusing on the horticulture sector in Afghanistan. The report is organized as follows: chapter one summarizes the recent literature on the horticulture sector; chapter two presents the results of the Survey undertaken for this report; and chapter three lists recommendations and next steps.