Advancing Market-Responsive Agriculture and

Transcription

Discussion Report
Advancing Market-Responsive
Agriculture and Agribusiness Education in Bangladesh
Volume 1 Issue 3 March 2015
Disclaimer
This report is an output of the workshop/ discussion event/ seminar organised by Katalyst. The views and opinions
expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of
Katalyst. Assumptions made within the analysis are also not reflective of the position of Katalyst or its
implementing and funding organisations.
Authored by
Sheikh Morshed Jahan
This report is one of a series of
discussion events that seeks to
understand inclusive business in
practice. The series explores the
prospects and challenges of Inclusive
Business
in
Bangladesh
and
facilitates the promotion of Inclusive
Business through relevant public and
private organisations.
About Katalyst
Agri-business for Trade Competitiveness-Project (ATC-P), branded as Katalyst is a market
development project that aims to increase the income of poor men and women in rural areas.
It does this by facilitating changes in services, inputs and product markets, which in turn
increases the competitiveness of farmers and small enterprises. Katalyst is co-funded by the
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the UK Government, and the Danish
International Development Agency (Danida). It is implemented by Swisscontact under the
umbrella of the Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh.
About the Author
Prof. Sheikh Morshed Jahan is an international
development expert with interest in cutting-edge
action research and innovative interventions
involving upgrading value chains, base of the
pyramid markets, green and inclusive business
ecosystems,
entrepreneurship
and
MSME
competitiveness, commercial agriculture and
agribusiness, M4P, public policy towards private
sector, institutional development and knowledge capitalization. He has been teaching at IBA,
Univ. Dhaka since 1993; he also trains young researchers and professors, policy analysts and
SME promotion professionals in countries of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
A Joint Japan-World Bank graduate scholar at Duke University and a Commonwealth Fellow at
IIM-Ahmedabad, Prof. Jahan served as a member of UNESCAP Advisory Panel on SME
Development in Asia and the Pacific. He also offered technical and advisory services to World
Bank, UNDP, ASEAN/ERIA, UNESCAP, Katalyst, KNI-Japan and Samsung, among others. He cofounded Center for Development and Competitive Strategies (www.cdcs-biz.com) and
Sustainable Market Foundation.
Table of Contents
Background ................................................................................................................................................... 1
Keynote Paper ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Inclusive Agribusiness ............................................................................................................................... 2
Market-responsiveness of Academia........................................................................................................ 3
Agricultural Academia in Bangladesh ....................................................................................................... 6
The Major Issue for Agricultural Academia .............................................................................................. 7
Discussion Highlights..................................................................................................................................... 8
Opportunities for agribusiness graduates, researchers and academia .................................................... 8
Challenges faced by agricultural academia............................................................................................... 9
Private Participation in advancing market responsive agriculture and Agribusiness education............ 12
The Way Forward ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Background
Bangladesh’s agriculture sector has been
going through a transition over the last few
decades.
The
most
important
transformation that has happened lies in
the ‘business model’ which is characterized
by an ever-increasing commercialization of
agricultural and support activities – both in
backward and forward value chain
segments. Consequently, the rise of a new
economic sector – ‘agribusiness’ – has
become largely evident. For an agrarian
economy such as Bangladesh, this
transformation
offers
outstanding
opportunities to advance the inclusive
business agenda as a vehicle for poverty
reduction.
However, advancing such an agenda
requires institutional readiness. Agricultural
academia and the private sector are two of
the most important institutions that can
play success-critical roles. Here, the issue of
human resource development ideally serves
as the bridge between agricultural
academia and the private sector – one at
the supply-end and the other at the
demand-end. Unfortunately, in Bangladesh
these two institutions are hardly connected
and one world remains largely unknown to
the other.
.
The academia is not much aware of the
ever-evolving nature of market demands; it
supplies whatever (HR) it can produce.
Likewise, the private sector is not proactive
enough to make its demands (for right kind
of HR) known to the universities.
Consequently, there exists a gap between
demand and supply of human resources
with appropriate agricultural knowledge,
skills and attitude. Moreover, the pace of
development within these two domains
(academia and private sector) varies
significantly. Thus the existing knowledge
gap (involving demand and supply of
appropriate HR) is ever-widening.
Funded by the UK Government, SDC and Danida
Implemented by Swisscontact| Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation
1
Keynote Paper
The keynote paper (by this author) dealt
with two issues: First, it discussed
‘institutional readiness for advancing
inclusive agribusiness’, and, second, it
underscored the importance of market
responsiveness of agricultural academia.
The paper served as the launch-pad for the
discussions.
Inclusive Agribusiness
Advancing inclusive agribusiness requires
an institutional regime that nurtures and
supports a market system (or business
ecosystem) that by promoting an increased,
equitable and responsible participation of
small
and
economically-challenged
individual market players and MSMEs along
the agricultural value chains is helping to
reduce poverty. Since agriculture and
agribusiness
offer
an
outstanding
opportunity for economic uplifting of the
base of the pyramid communities, the role
of academia (particularly agricultural
universities) is of paramount importance.
Our recent study on institutional readiness
for advancing inclusive business uncovers
some of the major constraints and
challenges. We found constraints at three
different domains: (i) understanding
domain, (ii) action domain and (iii)
capitalization domain. The constraints in
the understanding domain originate
primarily from lack of basic awareness
about
inclusive
business
(IB),
comprehension of the philosophy behind it,
Inclusive Agribusiness
ecosystem promtes
increased, equitable, and
responsible participation
of small and
economically-challenged
(also called ‘poor’)
individual market
players and MSMEs
along the agricultural
value chains and help
reduce poverty.”
2
and little or no understanding of the utility
of the IB approach (i.e. the ‘business case’
of IB). The constraints in the action domain
arise primarily from organizational set-up,
their capability to craft innovative IB
models, the clarity of the incentive
structure and the policy environment in
which organizations function.
The constraints in the capitalization domain
arise from a poor IB knowledge base and
non/existent institutional collaboration
involving IB in particular. Moreover, there
are cross-cutting issues that hinder an
effective facilitation of the IB approach.
These are: Underdeveloped human capital,
scarce financial resources and some social
barriers (e.g. are women at work, cost of
finance in the form of interest, etc.).
Yet, the good news is that although the IB
approach is new to many of the
organizations, the models that they follow
and/or the activities that they perform do
share elements of IB approaches – be it as a
positive deliberate insertion or not. There is
plenty of evidence that both academia and
business community support IB-like
approaches. For example, being the
representative of the highest body of
academic excellence in agriculture,
Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) is
training thousands of small and marginal
commercial
nurseries,
while
large
conglomerates such as Pran and ACI are
using contract farming and/or contract
sourcing as part of their business models.
Likewise, companies such as Ispahani,
which carries a 200-year long business
heritage, engages village women as
contract farmers for its pro-green
ambitions.
Examples such as these offer sufficient
insights for us to conclude that agricultural
academia, in collaboration with the private
sector, can contribute a substantial part to
the advancement of an inclusive
agribusiness ecosystem.
Market-responsiveness of
Academia
A country that failed to feed 70 million
people in the 1970s, now (in 2014) feeds
160 million, plus a part of the global
community. This achievement has been
registered against lesser quantity of arable
lands along with a decreasing number of
farmers and farm-workers. One of the key
aspects
of
such
an
outstanding
achievement is that all major players in the
agriculture and agribusiness ecosystem
have contributed to this success journey.
For all successive government regimes,
agriculture has been at the top of their
research, policy and action agenda. This has
been
well-supported
by
academic
institutions, research and extension
organizations, small-holder farmers, value
3
chain actors, agro-MSMEs and burgeoning
corporate sector participation.
The good news - and at the same time the
challenge - is that the sector is currently
undergoing a rapid transformation in
business models as well as in the business
ecosystem as a whole. Consequently, the
market demand for agricultural graduates
and researchers is changing fast.
The precondition for agricultural academia
to be more market responsive is that it
needs to recognize the contemporary
developments experienced by the industry
and understand the very dynamism of
markets and the business ecosystem in
which it belongs. Below are just a few
examples of contemporary developments in
the agribusiness sector of the country:
The interest and participation of BoPMSMEs as well as of larger private
sector
players
in
Bangladesh’s
agribusiness ecosystem are everincreasing.
The agribusiness sector
is currently undergoing a
rapid transformation in
terms of business models
as well as in the business
ecosystem as a whole
Thanks to growing commercialization of
agriculture, a lot of agro-MSMEs,
particularly at the base of the pyramid
(BoP), are joining the sector and are getting
formalized. Likewise, large national and
multinational conglomerates are also
joining and expanding their presence across
the industry’s value chains. Consequently,
Bangladesh’s agribusiness ecosystem is
continuously redefining and reinventing
itself. ACI, Pran, Square, Ispahani, CP, etc.
are only a few in the list of big corporate
entities. While survival and growth of BoP-
4
MSMEs is crucial for a sustainable market
and inclusive business ecosystem, the
outcome of on-going marketization would
largely depend on how prudent the
ecosystem players are in (i) crafting
equitable and inclusive business models and
strategies, (ii) formulating public policies
and actions, and (iii) preparing the next
generation of researchers and business
leaders.
International interest in Bangladesh’s
agriculture
and
agribusiness
is
increasingly evident.
Although still at a rather low level, the
country’s agricultural export has been
indicating an upward trend over the past
few years, with a diversified basket and
expanded geographic coverage. Although
this export usually serves the ethnic (and
culturally-close) markets in the global
domain, the growing interest of MNCs is
quite noticeable. For example, CP has
brought in FDI and invested in all along the
poultry value chain – starting from extreme
backward to extreme forward segments of
the chain. Likewise, Kellog is currently
exploring opportunities across the potato
value chain. Even small start-ups with
foreign origin are keen to explore this
market. Ultimately, increasing number of
global players is vying for a share of
Bangladesh’s burgeoning agribusiness pie,
be it through their direct presence or
indirect transactions.
Agriculture
and
the
agribusiness
industry offer unlimited opportunities for
market
actors
empowered
with
innovations in technologies, business
models and strategies.
Breaking the traditional boundary of public
sector-led innovations, leading private
sector players are getting increasingly
engaged in R&D for technological
breakthrough. Recent success of Lal Teer
Ltd. in discovering the buffalo genome
sequence and ACI’s success in HYV seed are
but a few examples of increasing private
sector role and success in agricultural
research and development. Likewise,
Ispahani’s collaboration with Bangladesh
Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in
advancing the latter’s integrated pest
management
(IPM)
technology
by
producing and marketing pheromone traps
is an example of successfull public-private
partnership. Similarly, Rural Development
Academy’s (RDA) partnership with private
sector players such as Syngenta and ACI
helped to transform hundreds of poor
women from Maria village, Bogra, into
successful seed entrepreneurs. The
Daudkandi model of transforming farmers,
including the marginal and the landless, into
owners of a limited liability company (in
fisheries) is another example of innovation
at the base of the pyramid. Winning
business cases such as these are in plenty
and continue to grow. Such enthusiasm in
the private sector, backed by increasing
public sector collaboration, has made the
agribusiness ecosystem truly dynamic. And
this calls for an appropriate response from
the agricultural academia.
5
Like these opportunities, new and
increasingly complicated challenges are
just as common.
While the country is attaining (or has
attained) food security to some extent, the
issue of food safety and nutrition security
remains to be a big national concern.
Starting from poor agricultural practices to
postharvest mismanagement, knowledge
gap to underdeveloped infrastructure (road,
storage and processing), and greedy
business practices, all contribute to low
quality and, often, adulterated food for
local consumption. International markets
too are not always free from this. For
example, the EU has recently imposed a ban
on export of betel leaf due to the discovery
of salmonella bacteria in it. Likewise, PRAN
has to fight an international image crisis and
recall its products from the US market upon
US-FDA’s discovery of excessive amounts of
lead in its turmeric powder. Challenges such
as these call for the academia to produce
well-informed and well-groomed graduates
capable of operating not only in the everchanging national business ecosystem, but
also in an extremely dynamic global
business ecosystem.
Agricultural Academia in
Bangladesh
The agricultural academia in Bangladesh has
a rich history of producing outstanding
researchers and extension professionals
and thereby contributing to national
economic development. Below are a few
quick examples that showcase the country’s
rich heritage of agricultural education.
Bangladesh houses:
•
one of the oldest agricultural
educational institutions in the region
(SAU)
•
the largest agricultural science institute
in South and Southeast Asia (BAU)
•
the world’s second largest depository of
fruits, medicinal plants and agroforestry (BAU-GPC)
Bangladesh’s agricultural academia has long
been the breeding ground of thousands of
agricultural researchers and extension
professionals. However, these graduates
traditionally serve the public sector,
primarily working for the government’s
agricultural research and extension
agencies and public administration entities.
With an ever-increasing role for the private
sector in agriculture and agribusiness, this
public sector mentality (with respect to
employment) may not be sustainable any
more.
Unfortunately, the opportunities created by
private sector-led robust growth and
transformation of the agriculture and
agribusiness sector have remained largely
unnoticed by the agricultural academia. The
curriculum, the pedagogy (teaching style)
and overall grooming are still based on
decade-old conceptions. On the other hand,
the burgeoning private sector has never
taken any significant proactive attempt to
‘educate’ the academia about changed and
ever-changing market realities and the
6
resulting growing and dynamic demand for
the ‘right kind’ of agricultural graduates.
Given the ongoing transformation in the
market, agricultural universities have a long
way to go. Immediate attention is therefore
required in at least three core areas:
a) Responding
to
evolving
market
demands from private, public and
development sectors plus international
markets by designing market-responsive
programs, upgrading curriculum and
refining the pedagogy to make
agricultural education more innovative,
market-relevant and globalized
b) Facilitating an inclusive (agri)business
ecosystem
by
co-creating
and
supporting
institution-building
endeavors and by advancing debates to
support innovations at/for the base of
the pyramid communities
c) Harnessing strategic management of
transformation in agriculture and
agribusiness industry by being proactive
and interactive
Major Issue
Academia
for
Agricultural
In the face of rapid transformation of the
agribusiness ecosystem of the country, the
agricultural academia needs to continuously
reassess its approach to human capital
development. Its endeavors should be along
the ever-evolving market dynamics and
resulting
demand
for
appropriate
knowledge, skills and attitude.
As tomorrow’s agriculture will be more and
more business-oriented and tomorrow’s
farmers will become agro-entrepreneurs,
innovation is required not only in
agricultural technologies, but also in
business models and management style.
Thus, the big questions for the agricultural
academia are:
– “Are we preparing graduates to truly
lead tomorrow’s agriculture and
agribusiness?”
– “Should we produce researchers
only to produce scholarly papers, or
to serve the market demands?”
– “Should we only produce extension
professionals to serve the public
sector, or should our graduates also
be empowered to join the private
sector?”
– “Should we produce graduates to
take-up jobs only, or to go for agroentrepreneurship?”
7
Discussion Highlights
Opportunities for agribusiness
graduates, researchers and
academia
There was a time when only the public
sector contributed to agriculture and
promoted agribusiness in Bangladesh. But
gradually, this situation has changed. Now
the private sector is contributing
substantially towards the agricultural sector
alongside
the
public
sector.
The
contribution of the private sector to the
development of agribusiness cannot be
ignored. This also indicates the potential
opportunities for the agricultural graduates
to join the private sector and contribute to
the
country’s thriving agribusiness.
Agricultural academia should therefore
have proper appreciation of the
opportunities created by the burgeoning
private sector in this area.
Proper understanding of industry needs
and dedicated focus on a chosen
specialization is important
“Industry-university
collaboration is good for
students’ upbringing … it
serves the purpose of the
private sector as a
result.”
Ms. Fawzia Yasmeen
Ispahani Agro Ltd
ACI, like any other private sector player that
works in agriculture, is looking for
knowledge and skills pertinent to their
operational requirements. Its objective is
higher productivity, innovation in breed,
effectiveness in communication, etc. The
main target of ACI is to reach the farmers
and help create wealth. It looks for pure
agricultural graduates as well as those with
added training in such areas as agricultural
8
packaging, agro-based processing and
communications. But due to the lack of a
market-responsive curriculum, there exists
a wide gap between demand for and supply
of agricultural graduates with the right set
of skills.
Dr. F H Ansarey, Executive Director of ACI
Agribusiness, suggested that universities
may choose to give more focus on, for
example, molecular biology and can launch
a dedicated department for this particular
subject. For the graduates, the return on
investment from this subject would be quite
high in the market.
Appropriate importance needs to be
given to postharvest, processing and
marketing
Given the development in the agricultural
sector over the last few decades, more
importance needs to be given to
agribusiness, particularly in aspect of
postharvest management, agro-processing
and agro-marketing. In the curriculum, the
right
balance
between
productionorientation and market-orientation needs
to be found.
To be on the top, homework needs to
be done properly
Continuous research and development is
very crucial in agribusiness. To be on the
top, anyone involved in agribusiness needs
to do their homework properly. Before
getting into agribusiness, it is essential to
acquire the necessary marketing and
technical
(agricultural)
knowledge.
Candidates’ lack of practical agribusiness
knowledge is a common problem seen in
the recruitment boards of the private
sector.
For instance, Ispahani works at different
segments of the agricultural value chains –
from seed and bio-pesticide to processed
goods. It works with multiple stakeholders
including
public
sector
research
organizations. For this, Ispahani requires
manpower capable of driving such
initiatives and making an impression in the
market. Therefore, students’ exposure to
real world, practical experience is essential.
Challenges faced by agricultural
academia
All the faculty members present from
different universities agreed that there is a
gap between academic curriculum and
market demand for agricultural graduates.
The faculty members opined that the
decades-old university curriculum is letting
the graduates down: faculty members too
are not finding appropriate means to
overcome existing financial constraints and
bridge the communication gap between
academia and industry.
9
Teaching-learning-evaluation
is traditional
approach
Teaching and student evaluation systems
need to be changed. The current system is
text-book oriented and examinationfocused, but students need more practical,
field-focused knowledge and exposure.
Incorporating presentations, workshops,
seminars and project works as a regular
course requirement thus needs to be
included in the system. For this, faculty
capacity development is a precondition. As
such, steps need to be taken to reform the
teaching/learning approach in order to
instill practical elements within the
curriculum.
An applied and interactive education
system should be incorporated in
agricultural academia to improve class
performance of the students. For example,
in some of the schools that Ispahani is
currently running, interactive education
systems have been introduced.
“Although relevant
courses are included in
some programs,
practical orientation is
still missing.”
Mustafizur Rahman
Sylhet Agricultural
University
Agricultural curriculum is not market
driven
There is a rising gap between market
demand for agricultural graduates and the
number of skilled students that the
universities currently produce. Clear
initiatives to bridge this gap are also lacking,
thus the curriculum needs to be
reformulated. Developing local knowledge
contents (e.g. agribusiness cases for
classroom simulation) could be a way in
addressing this problem.
10
However, some initiatives are notable. For
instance, Sylhet Agricultural University has a
system of tagging a business person with
each department in order to provide
students with market-orientation. This is
helping the students to relate their
academic knowledge with the market
outside and build up a better linkage with
the real world.
interested primarily in public sector jobs,
probably due to job security and so-called
social status issues. Of course, the other
school of thought believes that they are not
dynamic enough to pursue a private sector
career. Exception in this is the case of
Funding is a barrier to advancing
market-oriented agricultural education
Lack of funding is a common problem that
was observed by all the agricultural
universities. As a public institution, these
universities get limited funds to develop
their curriculum and conduct research in
innovative technologies. Agricultural R&D
requires sufficient investment, but a
country such as Bangladesh may spend only
a part of that. Consequently, there exists a
gap in expectations and outputs.
For example, BSMRAU wish to do
workshops to build faculty capacity and to
update the syllabus, but the university is
facing financial problems in supporting this
initiative. As a public university it is tough
for BRMRAU to arrange such programs
unless sponsors support them. Likewise,
SAU wants to evolve its curriculum in the
near future. But, insufficient funding for the
need assessment research required for this
initiative stands as the problem again.
Students’ perception about private
sector jobs needs to be changed
Agricultural graduates yet are not much
interested in private sector jobs. They are
choosing a banking career that offers some
degree of job security on a much higher pay
scale. Of course, according to some, this is a
pure wastage of national resources, since all
the investment made in making the person
an agriculturist goes in drain. To engineer a
real change in the mindset and
preparedness, collective action by the
universities may be worked out in this
regard.
In absence of strategic academic
administration, good initiatives die too!
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU)
launched its B.Sc. in agribusiness
programme in 2007. By 2012, three batches
graduated from this discipline. But the
graduates had difficulties to find
appropriate employment opportunities,
primarily because (public sector) job
circulars had no mention of this degree
(B.Sc. in Agribusiness). As a result, the
11
university authority had to change the
name of the degree (to BBA).
Communication gaps needed to be
narrowed down
Communication between universities and
the private sector needs to be improved.
Sylhet Agricultural University, for example,
cited a case of communications gap: The
university was planning for a practicum
(study tour) to a large agro-industrial
complex, but lack of sponsorship forced the
initiative to be stalled. This is one of many
good initiatives that could not be realized
due to absence of support in form of
sponsorship and funding. To make the
agricultural curriculum more marketresponsive, a holistic approach is required.
Many players of diverse domains are
involved in it; they collectively form the
agriculture and agribusiness ecosystem.
Career counseling and internship office
is crucial for graduate placement
An in-house career and professional
development department is a common
practice in most of the top universities in
Bangladesh, and beyond. The effectiveness
of such departments cannot be ignored. If
the agricultural universities can establish a
separate office for job placement, it will
boost the confidence of students and make
it a lot easier for them to find the right kind
of job.
Private
advancing
“The impact of postharvest loss is
unbearable to farmers,
consumers and VCAs.
Academia must pay due
attention to the complete
value chains, besides
current productioncentric education.”
Syeda Farzana Morshed,
CDCS
participation
in
market responsive
12
agriculture
education
and
agribusiness
The big names of the private sector are
ready to work jointly with universities and
public sector agencies to produce quality
graduates that better serve the country’s
booming agriculture sector.
industry-university
collaboration
increasing in parallel.
Internship as
orientation
a
tool
for
was
market
All the agricultural universities should
Private sector has interest to support
agricultural curriculum development
Bangladesh’s private sector is ready to
actively engage in co-designing the
agricultural curriculum in order to make it
more market-oriented. It is ready to make
necessary investments as well. For example,
ACI indicated that it may even sponsor a
department in one of the agricultural
universities (private/public). It will bear all
the costs of that department and take the
profits too. In return, it will ensure jobs for
the graduates of the department. ACI
recruited 1,000 people this year (2014)
alone for extension works (‘taking
technology to farmers’). It needs another
2,000 new staff very soon.
include a compulsory internship program as
an academic requirement. This will help the
new graduates to develop themselves and
have some practical exposure/knowledge
before going into the job market.
Universities must develop the students
according to the market requirements so
that they can meet the demand for
agricultural knowledge and skills that
prevails in the market.
Ispahani too is interested in co-creating the
academic curriculum along with agricultural
universities. In this line, its goodwill and
long experience in CSR investment for
educational endeavors would provide
much-needed insights. Ispahani currently
runs 14 public schools across the country
and in some of these schools, a project on
‘interactive learning’ is underway.
Due to lack of a policy on compulsory
internships at universities, private sector
players – who are willing to give the
students
the
much-needed
market
exposure that they need – fail to attract the
interest of the agricultural students. For
example, once Ispahani issued a circular for
internship, but surprisingly no one applied
from
agricultural
universities.
It was also stated that since the private
sector is growing, the opportunity for
13
The Way Forward
Promote industry-university collaboration. Invite private sector representatives and policy
makers to campus in order to share knowledge, insights and experiences. Craft joint initiatives
such as exposure visits, research and field tests, industry visits, training, etc.
Promote/help make internships and placements an official affair, with much rigor. Internships
should be made mandatory for all students.
Introduce modern pedagogy (teaching style) and student evaluation systems in order to
enhance classroom performance. Current evaluation systems are only examination-focused,
whereas agricultural graduates need more practical knowledge and field exposure. The
teaching and evaluation systems should include such instruments as presentations, workshops
and project works on a regular basis.
Invest in faculty capacity-building to upgrade the curriculum on a regular basis; introduce
modern teaching techniques and strengthen the system.
Fund/facilitate market need assessment research and faculty capacity-building interventions to
design a market-responsive curriculum and to develop local knowledge content such as
simulation cases, books, research monographs, agribusiness sub-sector studies, etc.
Promote an interactive agriculture and agribusiness ecosystem. Help to craft and execute a
strategic roadmap for market-responsive curriculum development on an urgent basis. In this
line, a well thought-out role for the private sector vis-à-vis other stakeholders should be
outlined and pursued collectively.
14
Acknowledgements
The author registers his sincere appreciation to Katalyst for undertaking the
initiative on promoting inclusive business, in this case by advancing marketresponsive agricultural curriculum. The author also registers his deep gratitude
to CDCS Knowledge Institute for facilitating this initiative by voluntarily sharing
its resources and networks and making the faculty workshop so rich and lively.
The author offers heartfelt thanks to the participants of the workshop for
sharing their experiences and providing valuable insights.
The author expresses his deep appreciation to Mr. Markus Ehmann, General
Manager, Katalyst for nurturing an inclusive business agenda within Katalyst
M4P framework by leading a nice pool of open-minded professionals. In this
connection, the author thanks Katalyst capitalisation team, particularly Nasir
Uddin Ahmed, Mohasin Kabir, Tahsin Akbar and Injamam Alam, for their
wonderful support throughout the project tenure.
The author expresses his sincere gratitude to Ms. Syeda Farzana Morshed,
Managing Director of Centre for Development and Competitive Strategies Ltd.
(www.cdcs-biz.com) and Mr. Rezaul Karim Siddique, Director, CDCS
Communications for their generous support in the process of execution of the
project. Heartfelt thanks goes also to CDCS professionals Messrs Md. Sohel
Rana, Md. Alamgir Hossen and Masrur Md. Haque for their outstanding
assistance in planning and organizing the workshop.
15
Annexure: Panel Members
Name
Dr. F H Ansarey
Fawzia Yasmeen
Noor Md. Rahmatallah
Designation
Executive Director
General Manager
Proessor
Md. Zulfiakar Ahmed Reza
Proessor
Mr. Kazi Tamim Rahman
Assistant Professor
Mr. Abdus Salam
Assistant Professor
Ms. Jaba Rani Sarker
Assistant Professor
Mr. Monjurul Islam
Assistant Professor
Md. Razib Hossain
Lecturer
Jashim Uddin Ahmed
Md. Mostafizur Rahman
Farhana Arefeen Mila
Farzana Morshed
Professor
Assistant Professor
Lecturer
Managing Director
Rezaul Karim Siddique
Director, Communications
Organization
ACI Agribusiness
Ispahani Agro Ltd.
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural
University
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural
University
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman Agricultural University
(BSMRAU)
(BSMRAU)
(BSMRAU)
(BSMRAU)
(BSMRAU)
Sylhet Agricultural University
Center for Development &
Competitive Strategies Ltd.
Center for Development &
Competitive Strategies Ltd.
16
Prepared by Katalyst
Katalyst Project Office
House 20, Road 6, Baridhara │Dhaka 1212 │ Bangladesh
Phone +88 (02) 8833172-6, Ext. 117 │Fax +88 (02) 8835452
www.katalyst.com.bd
www.facebook.com/katalyst-swisscontact
www.swisscontact.org
Contact: [email protected]
17

Advancing Market-Responsive Agriculture and

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