29-10-2021

fRIDAy, OCTOBER 29, 2021
4
The supply chain crisis has a silver lining
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Friday, October 29, 2021
Saving precious
agricultural lands
There should not be any doubt or hesitations as
regards the necessity of taking appropriate measures
to save agricultural lands in a land short densely
populated country like Bangladesh. Bangladesh with an
area of 147,570 sq. km. in total possesses about 20.16
million acres of cultivated area for over 164 million people.
But in reality the scale at which agricultural land is being
wasted every year there will remain nothing to be surprised
for one if agriculture meets serious setbacks in Bangladesh
sooner than later . An estimate shows that the gradual
decline of arable land in Bangladesh now is by 1 percent per
annum because of its increased use for commercial
purposes and the establishment of different kinds of mills
and factories together with new residential areas.
This percentage of agricultural land decline is supposed
to be increasing with the increasing pace of nonagricultural
economic progress of the country. If this trend
continues and not minimized or stopped the prices of food
and other necessary agricultural commodities will go
beyond control as increasing domestic agricultural
commodity production will become increasingly difficult
under limited land use for agricultural purposes.
Considering all these the government has undertaken a
master plan to build multistoried residential buildings on
cooperative basis for the accommodation of rural and
urban people to save agricultural land. The concerned
officials have claimed that through this scheme the
gobbling up of agricultural lands will notably decline
and side by side the maximum utilization of
agricultural resources of the country will happen. The
concerned officials have already discussed the matter in
the ECNEC meetings.
But it is true that other reasons behind the harming,
misuse and loss of agricultural lands do scarcely catch the
attention of the quarters who ought to be concerned. The
productivity of agricultural land is decreasing also because
of the repeated excessive use of chemical fertilizers every
year. Industrial wastes are being thrown in unplanned and
reckless manner on agricultural lands and adjacent
rivers. Building of unplanned residential
accommodations, roads and highways, bridges and
culverts, industrial establishments, brick-fields et
cetera are on the increase and causing serious damage
to and decrease of agricultural lands.
Moreover, the 'reckless' activities that are going on in the
private sector to establish housing estates for residential
purposes throughout the country by occupying agricultural
lands has raised the apprehensions that the possibility
of the availability of agricultural land will become a
serious issue in the near future. But no one, it seems, is
ready to realize that an agriculture dominated and
dependent country could one day face a great peril from
such a development.
About 80 percent of the people of the country still
depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. Though
there are no special social facilities in the countryside
for the peasant community to enjoy, yet they are
achieving unparalleled successes every year in
agricultural productions only because there are still
sufficient fertile agricultural lands for use.
It goes without saying that not only agricultural but
industrial development is also necessary in the country for
creating jobs, income and raising of the standard of living
of the people. But to improve both of these sectors what is
needed is harmonious development of these two sectors
with courage, sincerity of purpose, patriotism and well
planned concerted efforts. But if the political leadership
and the government officials fail in forward thinking to
check unchecked encroachment on limited agricultural
lands, then its results will be unfortunate for the country
even in the near future.
The plan to meet the habitation problems of the rural
population by constructing multistoried buildings and
other measures to preserve agricultural land will be
laudable if its result becomes visible through its
implementations in the true sense of the term. If a sincere
effort is made to achieve a harmonious balance between
agricultural and industrial development in the country,
then overall economic progress will be accelerated on
the one hand and likewise domestic food grain
production and production of other agricultural
produces will also increase.
The development of agro-based industry in the country
may help to preserve agricultural land. The countries
where agricultural land is meager, they have given
emphasis on industrializations of the economy to meet the
overall demand of their people. But in a country like ours
where the Creator has blessed us with fertile agricultural
lands, we need to industrialize and export but after giving
proper and due importance to agriculture. Only then it will
be possible for us to adequately and effectively rescue
agricultural land and make its appropriate use and benefit
the country in the practical sense.
We are to remember that agriculture is still the life line of
the Bangladesh economy with its tremendously hard
working peasant society. Their demand for existence is
bare minimum but contributions to the economy are
enormous. To be honest the urban population will be in
danger if the agricultural sector stops supplying their
daily necessities. From this point of view the urban
sector is totally dependent on the rural agricultural
sector but scarcely vice versa. And this is a long lasting
reality to continue.
Bangladesh as a whole cannot go on without keeping its
agricultural sector in good health . So, the imperative to
preserve agricultural land is irrefutable. Thus, our national
policy makers will have to give urgent and active attention
to this issue without wasting any time.
Several months ago, I warned that the
crisis in container ships could
jeopardize Christmas by leaving
retailers without enough goods on their
shelves. Since then, there have been
similar fears all over the media, due not
only to shipping problems but also to
shortages of truck drivers and unavailable
products. As we approach November, the
worst may be coming to the worst.
It is a classic supply-and-demand
mismatch. On the one hand, people
around the world managed to save more
than US$5 trillion during the lockdowns,
and have been wanting to spend some of
that now that some restrictions have been
lifted. This is why the global economy has
seen a strong recovery this year, with the
International Monetary Fund predicting
that global growth will be 6% for the year
as a whole. According to an intelligence
report shared with me by a shipping
broker, that extra demand translated into
more than 119 million shipping containers
between January and August, 6% higher
than the equivalent period in 2019.
Supply chains have not been coping
with this surge in orders. Ports have been
struggling to load and unload container
ships quickly enough, with nearly 600
container ships stuck outside docking
areas around the world - nearly double the
number at the start of the year.
Ports are understaffed because many
workers are being kept off site by Covid-19
restrictions. There are not nearly enough
containers, because ships that would
STAVROS KARAMPERIDIS
normally pick up empty containers to
return to ports in Asia have been sailing
back empty instead to minimize delays.
There are also not enough truck drivers
in numerous countries. It has become well
known that the UK is short by some
100,000 drivers, partly because of Brexit,
but Germany is short by around 80,000
drivers, while the European Union as a
whole is short by 400,000. This is making
the problems with containers worse.
For example Felixstowe, the UK's main
port for container ships, is full of
containers because there are not enough
drivers to pick them up. This delays
loading and unloading for vessels,
creating a four-to-seven-day wait. Big
shipping companies like Maersk have
been rerouting to continental ports
instead, where goods are reloaded on to
smaller ships to sail back to the UK - all of
which slows down deliveries considerably.
Another really important problem is a
lack of raw materials and components.
Suppliers have been caught short because
they did not predict such massive
demand, and are not as efficient as usual
because of Covid.
They have also been having to cope with
energy shortages in countries such as
China, as governments attempt to meet
carbon-emissions targets. This has meant
that many goods can't be finished, the
most recent high-profile example being
Apple reportedly stopping production of
10 million - 11% - of iPhone 13s because of
chip shortages.
From another private shipping report, a
group of global logistics CEOs were
recently asked when they expected to see
normalcy returning to supply chains, and
only 37% thought it would happen by the
end of 2022. The remainder were evenly
split between the first and second quarters
of 2023.
My view is that this is too pessimistic.
We are seeing the early signs of a global
recession, with China and the US slowing
down and central banks potentially about
to make things worse by reducing the
"money printing" that is quantitative
easing, and even raising interest rates.
DR. DANIA KOLEILAT KHATIB
Along with rising consumer prices, not
least for fuel, this will make people more
cautious about buying things. They will
start using some of that saved $5 trillion to
cover more urgent needs, so the demand
for goods will drop sharply as a result.
This will not happen quickly enough to
give supply chains much relief this side of
Christmas, but it will help them to
rebalance in 2022.
The supply of goods will also have
increased because of suppliers investing
in extra capacity in response to the current
shortfalls. For example, again from a
private report from a shipping broker,
container-shipping companies have
placed record orders for new vessels with
a total carrying capacity of 3.4 million
TEU (the standard measure of capacity in
shipping, which means "equivalent to 20
feet"). That's 22% of the entire worldwide
fleet. Another piece of good news
concerns decarbonization. Most container
ships still run on fossil fuels, with the
industry said to be responsible for almost
3% of global carbon emissions. Changing
this will cost many billions of dollars, and
a group of major companies including
Amazon, Ikea and Unilever has just
announced that it will only use ships with
zero emissions by 2040. In this context,
there is a silver lining to the fact that the
shipping problems of 2021 have made
freight rates extremely high - around 10
times their usual levels.
Source: Asia times
How Saudi Arabia is leading the global climate action
The Saudi Green Initiative Forum in
Riyadh has brought together world
leaders, public officials,
businessmen and climate activists to
chalk out the regional roadmap for
tackling the disastrous effects of global
climate change. Its highlight is the official
launch of the Saudi Green Initiative and
Middle East Green Initiative, unveiled by
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in
March.
The forum is also a prelude to the 26th
UN Climate Chance Conference, or
COP26, to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 12 in
Glasgow, which is expected to renew the
global commitment to realize the Paris
Agreement's goal of limiting the global
temperature rise by 2 C - ideally 1.5 C - by
reducing carbon emissions down to zero
by 2050.
In August, the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change warned that
climate change is widespread, rapid, and
intensifying. Its destructive potential was
visible in this year's record-breaking
summer temperatures, flash flooding
across China, central Europe and the US
and forest fires on almost every continent.
Fortunately, 2021 has also turned out to
be a promising year, with the US rejoining
the Paris Agreement and the rest
of the world expressing greater resolve on
climate action at various world forums,
including the US Earth Day virtual
summit in April and the G20 Meeting on
Environment, Climate and Energy held in
July in Naples.
Since the use of hydrocarbons causes 80
to 90 percent of carbon emissions, oil
Why Turkey should swap military strikes for water diplomacy
Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has voiced his anger over
the killing of two Turkish policemen
by Kurdish forces in Syria, describing the
attack as "the final straw" and warning
that Ankara will take decisive action to
eliminate what it views as a terrorist threat
against its citizens.
However, can Turkey be sure another
military campaign will serve its purposes,
especially in the lead-up to what appears
to be a tightly contested election? A
military strike can have unintended
consequences and might not be the best
choice, while any entanglement is unlikely
to foster the sense of stability necessary to
attract investors to the country. Since the
Turkish leader has been focusing on
attracting investment, a deal might be a
better alternative.
What can Turkey offer to turn its
adversaries into partners? Water.
Problems with water supply have grown
since 1975, when Turkey's dam
construction program cut the flow of
water to Iraq by 80 percent and to Syria by
40 percent. Studies have shown that the
Tigris and Euphrates basin, which covers
Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran, is
losing water faster than any other area in
the world, except northern India.
They have also been having to cope with energy shortages in countries
such as China, as governments attempt to meet carbon-emissions targets.
This has meant that many goods can't be finished, the most
recent high-profile example being Apple reportedly stopping production
of 10 million - 11% - of iPhone 13s because of chip shortages.
giants like Saudi Arabia will have to lead
the global climate action. It is offering
such leadership through flagship projects
such as the SGI and MEGI as well as other
innovative ways to reduce the carbon
emitting potential of oil and
petrochemicals, besides undertaking
major wind and solar ventures to generate
renewable energy.
There are pragmatic reasons why Saudi
Arabia is doing so. First, the effects of
climate change are especially clear in the
Middle East, where drought and
temperatures in excess of 50 C have now
become the norm. In the past four
decades, average temperatures in Saudi
Arabia have risen by more than 2 C - three
times the current global average.
Second, under the Saudi Vision 2030,
the government is implementing major
reforms that aim to diversify the Saudi
economy away from the depleting oil
reserves. Almost 70 percent of its
population is under the age of 35. Hence,
the leadership has to act now to deal with
the socio-economic aspirations of the
youth bulge in future.
Since the use of hydrocarbons causes 80
To add to that, Syrian President Bashar
Assad's policies have focused on the urban
sector at the expense of rural areas. This
problem has been aggravated by the
conflict. As a result, basic commodities
have become more costly and the price of
bread has soared. Water scarcity in Syria's
northeast, a major agricultural area, has
contributed to instability. A RAND
Corporation study found that a secure
water supply is essential to prevent the reemergence
of Daesh. Water can be a
major factor in encouraging people to
return to their communities. During the
conflict, water has been used as a weapon
by the warring parties, while lack of access
to secure supplies has been cited as a
leading reason behind the rise in refugee
numbers as people abandon their
communities. Daesh cut off water supplies
ISHTIAQ AHMAD
to 90 percent of carbon emissions, oil
giants like Saudi Arabia will have to lead
the global climate action.
The holistic Saudi approach to climate
action also focuses on current action for
the sake of future generations. Apart from
the two green initiatives, three one-of-akind
climate ventures are worth
mentioning: The SGI includes the
planting of 10 billion trees in the
Second, under the Saudi Vision 2030, the government is implementing
major reforms that aim to diversify the Saudi economy away
from the depleting oil reserves. Almost 70 percent of its population
is under the age of 35. Hence, the leadership has to act now to deal
with the socio-economic aspirations of the youth bulge in future.
upcoming decades, the equivalent to
rehabilitating roughly 40 million hectares
of degraded lands. It also seeks to reduce
carbon emissions by more than 4 percent
of global contributions through an
ambitious renewable energy program that
will generate 50 percent of the Kingdom's
energy from renewables by 2030.
The MEGI, to be realized in
coordination with other Arab allies,
includes the planting of 40 billion trees in
the Middle East. Together, the 50 billion
tree planting program is the largest
reforestation program in the world and is
meant to restore an area equivalent to 200
million hectares of degraded land,
representing 5 percent of the global target
of planting 1 trillion trees and reducing
to northern Iraq in 2015. In Iraq, poor
governance has led to the targeting of
irrigation department officials and clashes
between rural clans. Water supplies in the
country are also under threat because of
the growing population. The current
water management infrastructure dates
back to the 1970s and is less efficient than
modern systems. More serious still, the
city of Mosul faces the threat of a dam
Problems with water supply have grown since 1975, when Turkey's dam
construction program cut the flow of water to Iraq by 80 percent and to
Syria by 40 percent. Studies have shown that the Tigris and Euphrates
basin, which covers Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran, is losing
water faster than any other area in the world, except northern India.
collapse, a disaster that would affect 2
million people and kill hundreds of
thousands. Turkey is an upstream power
and, hence, has a valuable asset that can
be used to make people's lives easy or
difficult. Turkey is an upstream power
and, hence, has a valuable asset that can
be used to make people's lives easy or
difficult. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers
flow from the mountains of eastern
carbon emissions by more than 10 percent
of global contributions.
Saudi Arabia has introduced the
framework for the circular carbon
economy, which is endorsed by the G20
and which advocates the reduction,
recycling and reuse of carbon emissions
across industrial processes. Saudi
Aramco, the Kingdom's national oil
company, has undertaken several carbon
capture, utilization and storage projects to
turn carbon dioxide into useful and
saleable products.
It is already a pioneer in developing
hydrogen fuels and last year exported the
first shipment of blue ammonia - a much
cleaner fuel that is a byproduct of the oil
and gas industrial process - to Japan for
use in the latter's electricity generation
industry. It has joined hands with
Germany to build the world's largest
hydrogen plant worth $5 billion in
NEOM, the smart, zero-carbon city being
built on the Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia has also established its
niche in wind and solar energy. In August,
the Middle East's largest wind farm at
Dumat Al-Jandal began producing
carbon-free electricity, which will
eventually meet the energy needs of
70,000 homes. Acwa Power, a company
co-owned by Saudi Arabia's Sovereign
Wealth Fund, is building the world's
largest solar power project at Sakaka. A
$200 billion joint venture with Japan's
SoftBank, initiated in 2018, aims to build
several other solar projects.
Source: Arab news
Turkey into Iraq and Syria. Turkey can use
water to forge better relations with
Baghdad and entice the Kurdish factions
in the northeast of Syria into an
arrangement that guarantees its security.
Ankara would be better off entering into
an arrangement with the Kurds in Syria
under US mediation rather than looking
on as Assad agrees to a deal with the
Kurds via Russian efforts.
To build trust, a commission made up of
representatives from Turkey, Syria's
northeast and Iraq, with a rotating
presidency, could be created to manage
water across the three countries and
explore economically beneficial projects.
A similar commission has been created for
the Mekong River to manage water
among Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Turkey could also help to upgrade aging
infrastructure in locations such in Mosul.
This could be done with US and European
assistance. Public-private partnerships
could be created to carry out such
projects, with Turkish companies joining
forces with local governments. These
deals would strengthen Erdogan's efforts
to attract investment to Turkey and bring
contracts to Turkish companies.
Source: Arab news