Youth can drive agricultural change: Women Affairs State Minister Simeen

Young people should be the agents of change in the transformation of agriculture, said Women and Children Affairs State Minister Simeen Hussain Rimi on Friday.

"Farmers are a great source of inspiration for us, and so is our youth. It feels so good to see that many young entrepreneurs are nowadays getting interested in agriculture and contributing to the economy. But they need proper guidance," she said at a day-long training programme organised for agricultural entrepreneurs in Gazipur's Kapasia.

Simeen further said that the government is extending all-out support to agri-entrepreneurs and providing them with all sorts of stimulus packages, read a press release.

The training programme was organised by United Commercial Bank PLC (UCB) under their agricultural support scheme, titled "Bhoroshar Notun Janala", which is being implemented as a corporate social responsibility project.

With the presence of 200 selected agri-entrepreneurs hailing from different upazilas of Gazipur district, the day-long training programme shed light on different important issues related to business planning, marketing, managerial skills, banking and financial aspects of agricultural enterprises, and answered the various queries of the entrepreneurs as well.

UCB Additional Managing Director Abul Alam Ferdous said, "Our special CSR project will open a new window of trust in the minds of agri-entrepreneurs in the country. It will help to find a way to stand by the side of the farmers involved in agriculture and inspire them."

Additional Managing Director and Company Secretary ATM Tahmiduzzaman said, "Equipping the farmers and agri-entrepreneurs with the right information and knowledge is very crucial to making sure that the country is moving forward in the right direction to achieve food security. UCB aims to do that through our CSR project Bhoroshar Notun Janala that has been designed to facilitate and empower entrepreneurs across the country."

According to the press statement, this is the first time in Bangladesh that any commercial bank is implementing such a project in the agriculture sector and directly helping the farmers.

Rezaul Karim Siddique, a popular presenter of BTV's agriculture-based show "Mati O Manush" and an agricultural analyst, was also present among other distinguished guests.

Different activities including tree plantation, training for agricultural entrepreneurs and distribution of agro-related smart devices such as the AI-driven 'Aro Machh (More Fish)' device have already been taken under this initiative to benefit those involved in the agri sector.

At the same time, under this project, research initiatives have been undertaken for the development of climate-smart agricultural marketing systems to improve the food and nutritional security of vulnerable pastoralist households in Bangladesh.