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Challenges in poultry sector need to be addressed urgently

Industry leaders say at roundtable


Published : 31 Aug 2022 08:53 PM

Poultry industry leaders at a programme called for taking necessary steps to address the challenges being faced by the sector.   

“About Tk. 35,000 crore has been invested and about 60 lakh workers are directly or indirectly involved in this sector. So it is needed to take steps to save this industry. The steps are: ensuring bank loan on easy terms to marginal farm owners and farmers, providing incentive in emergency time, stopping the influence of middlemen”, they said.        

The measures also include imparting training to farmers and farm owners on modern technology, and bringing marginal farmers under insurance, they observed while addressing the ‘Dutch-Bangladesh Knowledge Sharing Roundtable’ at a hotel at Gulshan-2 in the capital.  

There are about 90,000 to 100,000 poultry farms across the country. The sector has created employment facilities for many people, including women. So this sector deserves due attention, they observed,      

PoultryTechBangladesh, a public-private partnership co-funded by Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka, comprising leading Dutch and Bangladeshi companies active in various parts of the poultry value chain, organized the event in collaboration with the Breeders Association Bangladesh (BAB) and the Feed Industries Association of Bangladesh (FIAB) on Tuesday afternoon.  Bangladesh poultry industry leaders Shamsul Arefin Khaled, Director of Nourish Poultry & Hatchery Ltd.; Abu Luthfe Fazle Rahim Khan, Managing Director of Aftab Bahumukhi Farms Ltd.; Mahbubur Rahman, General Secretary of Bangladesh Breeders Association; and MD  Ahsanuzzaman, Director and CEO of Spectra Hexa Feeds Ltd.; participated in the discussion alongside many other relevant poultry stakeholders.

Other executive committee members of the associations and representatives across the value chain; Dr. Bibek Roy, Poultry Geneticist, Department of Livestock; were also present. 

Matthias Brienen, Director of Larive International, and Zahedul Amin, Director of LightCastle Partners, jointly moderated the programme. 

In his address, Dr. Bibek stated that discussion focused on identifying existing challenges in the sector.

Mahbubur Rahman, General Secretary of Breeders Association Bangladesh, said, “Regulatory steps need to be taken to stop selling live chicken in wet markets. ”.

Md. Ahsanuzzaman, Director and CEO of Spectra Hexa Feeds LTD., stated “Access to finance is another key challenge for small and medium scale farmers of Bangladesh”. 

Gordon Butler, President of G&S Agriconsultants Co Ltd, said “The poultry sector is unique in comparison to global poultry industries. Hence, we cannot aim to replicate the practices of the global west but instead we need to collaboratively come up with unique solutions that are relevant to the Bangladeshi poultry industry”. 

PoultryTechBangladesh is a 5-year long programme that would be active till December 2025. It has been developed and is coordinated by Larive International and LightCastle Partners and includes ten other companies and knowledge institutes.