Two Bangladeshi companies have leased 40,000 hectares of farmland in Africa as part of a government drive to improve food security in the country, said a foreign ministry official yesterday.
The companies have leased the land in Uganda and Tanzania. Another firm will sign a deal for a further 10,000 hectares in Tanzania this week, said Farhadul Islam, a director of the foreign ministry.
“The government strongly supports companies leasing farmland in Africa. The aim is to bring most of the farms' output back to Bangladesh to ease food shortages,” he told AFP.
“African countries offer unique opportunities for farming investment,” he said, adding “Companies from China and other countries are everywhere in Africa.”
Abdul Matlub Ahmad, owner of Nitol Group, said his company signed a deal with the Ugandan government last month to lease farmland to grow rice.
“Under the deal, we can bring some 80 percent of our output back to the country after payment of some annual fees. We shall some employ 25,000 workers--some 90 percent from Uganda,” he told AFP.
Matlub said the group and other Bangladeshi businessmen are looking for further land lease deals in Tanzania, Benin and Guinea.
“These governments are interested to strike agreements with us. I think it will open up vast new opportunities for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs,” he added.
Since Bangladesh identified overseas farming as a key way of improving food security late last year, local businessmen have also scoured Africa for suitable land to lease, foreign ministry official Islam said.
Over the last few years, Bangladesh has become a major importer of rice and wheat, with grain imports up 86 percent year-on-year to $882 million for the last seven months of 2010, according to the central bank