Agribusiness:
Agribusiness is doing business with agricultural products. Agribusiness is a term that bridges Agriculture and Business. In 1950, the term was first introduced by Harvard Business School (HBS) Professors Ray Goldberg and John Davis. Agribusiness in Bangladesh is a new dimension.
Macro-Economic Objective:
Major macroeconomic objectives of this sector are below:
- Employment generation
- Poverty alleviation
- Human resources development
- Food security
Agribusiness is of critical importance to a country under all conditions at each stage in its development. Agribusiness is an intricate venture that integrates agricultural farming, value-added processing, packaging & delivery activities. With the enlargement of global demand for agribusiness products, demand for these agribusiness factors also enhanced for the time being.
Agribusiness Sectors with its Importance:
In Bangladesh, Agribusiness sectors are associated with four sectors
- Input sector
- The commercial farm production sector
- Product sector and
- Service sector.
Others relating to Agribusiness sectors are – Business service, Crops, Livestock, Poultry, Fisheries, Agro-Forestry, Agro-processing, Agro-inputs, Agricultural Education, etc.
Leading Agribusiness companies in Bangladesh are ACI Agribusiness, Pran Group, Krishibid Group, Ifat Group, Akij Group. Kaji Group, Square Group, Supreme Seeds, Isphahani Group, etc.
Agribusiness and Bangladesh:
Bangladesh is primarily an agricultural country subjugated by crop production. As a developing country, it has been determined for the rapid development of its economy. For ensuring large and densely growing population food security and livelihood, Agriculture and Agribusiness play a vital role. The performance of this sector has a great impact on macroeconomic situations like employment generation, poverty alleviation, food security, and nutritional attainment, etc. Economic development is inextricably linked with the performance of the Agribusiness sector. The overall performance of the economy is, therefore, yet inextricably linked to the performance of the agribusiness as well as the agricultural sector. With the intention of ensuring long-term food security for the people, a profitable, sustainable, and environment-friendly agribusiness system is essential for Bangladesh.
Agribusiness shows collective business activities. Agribusinesses work on inputs into outputs. An input is a resource used in the production process. The output is the result of the production process. Agribusiness actually makes available agricultural inputs, the production, and conversion of agricultural products. For the production of food and fiber, it accumulates all the activities within the agricultural food and natural resource industry.
Job opportunities for Agribusiness in Bangladesh:
Agribusiness not only provides people with food, clothing, and shelter but also provides jobs for millions of people involved in science, research, engineering, education, advertisement, government agenda, and their supply to ultimate trade organizations and commodity organizations. Agribusiness has a great contribution to the public and private sectors as well. The public sector is dealing with the financial, administrative, and managerial roles with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government; say for example – the department of agricultural marketing (DAM) of Bangladesh is associated with Agribusiness. The private sector is an integral part of the economy of any country connected with private profit and is not controlled by the government, except in some countries.
At present, Agribusiness is one of the most important sources of employment and income globally. Raw materials that are frequently perishable, variable in quality, and not usually available are associated with Agribusiness. Traditional production and distribution methods are being replaced by more directly interconnected and better-planned linkages between firms, farmers, retailers, and others in the agribusiness supply chain for ensuring consumer safety and environmental protection as well.
