Bangladesh To Grow Rice In Africa

Bangladesh To Grow Rice  

In Africa

Dhaka May 18, 2011

Bangladesh to venture farming in Africa to grow rice and wheat crops to meet food shortages in the country. Bangladeshi companies, as a part of government program to improve food security, have leased 40,000 hectares of farmland in Uganda and Tanzania for farming, BD news report said.

Farhadul Islam, a director of the foreign minister said “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,”

The spokes said that another firm will sign a deal for a further 10,000 hectares of farming land in Tanzania in the coming week.

Abdul Matlub Ahmad, owner of Nitol Group, one of the firms who have signed an agreement with the Ugandan government in April to lease farmland to grow rice.

Abdul Matlub said “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,”