AGRICULTURE MINISTER FOCUSED ON INCREASING CROP

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000247 SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS PEACE CORPS NEW DELHI PLEASE PASS FAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2019 TAGS: EAGR PREL PGOV ECON SENV EAID EWWT BG SUBJECT: AGRICULTURE MINISTER FOCUSED ON INCREASING CROP YIELDS Classified By: Ambassador James Moriarty, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Improving agricultural productivity is critical to increasing incomes and lifting Bangladeshis out of poverty, according to Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury. In a recent meeting with the Ambassador, the Agriculture Minister focused on her efforts to improve farmers' access to water and fertilizer as a means of spurring productivity. The Minister requested USG assistance in the area of dredging Bangladesh's many waterways, which she described as a lifeline of agriculture and transport. Minister Chowdhury is a long-time Awami League veteran and one of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's closest advisors. IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZER FOR FARMERS -------------- ¶2. (C) Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury told the Ambassador during a recent courtesy call that her current priorities were distributing fertilizer and ensuring access to irrigation for farmers as they tend their rice crops. February and March are critical growing months for the "boro" rice crop, which supplies Bangladesh with the majority of rice on which it subsists. According to the Minister, fertilizer and irrigation are key to healthy crops, but irrigation is expensive and too much underground mining for water leads to other problems. The Awami League government planned to address these difficulties by dropping the price of diesel fuel and provided fertilizer subsidies, Chowdhury said. She added that the Agriculture Ministry was also working with the Food and Disaster Management Ministry to procure food for programs that support Bangladesh's ultra-poor. ENERGY AND WATERWAYS ARE OTHER PRIORITIES -------------- ¶3. (C) The Agriculture Minister also addressed Bangladesh's energy needs. If Bangladesh solved its energy problems, the country's resourceful and hardworking people would be able to provide for themselves, she opined. The Minister expressed confidence in the Bangladeshi economy despite the global financial crisis, citing the country's resilience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. She also noted that Bangladesh's population of 150 million was a market unto itself, even if Bangladesh's exports declined temporarily. ¶4. (C) Minister Chowdhury requested U.S. assistance to help Bangladesh maintain its vital waterways. According to the Minister, Bangladesh desperately needs significant investment in dredging and excavation equipment to keep the country's rivers open to the fresh water flows coming from the Himalayas that are critical to rice crops here. Chowdhury said she and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina were of one mind -- dredging and excavation equipment were key to helping Bangladeshi farmers. The Ambassador agreed to share this request within the USG and highlighted the potential for public-private partnerships in this endeavor. COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury is one of the Prime Minister's key confidantes and is arguably the Cabinet member closest to the Sheikh Hasina. Chowdhury was the only non-military advisor to accompany the Prime Minister to her contentious meeting with Army officers on March 1, after the deadly Bangladesh Rifles mutiny of February 25-26. Chowdhury is a dynamic, yet thoughtful interlocutor who clearly grasps the hurdles Bangladesh faces both economically and politically. MORIARTY