Last month, we were touring the districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to inaugurate ‘Smart Corners’ at the district-level offices of the Bangladesh Awami League and to conduct worker conventions. Travelling with us was Kabir Bin Anwar Bhai, whose passion for agriculture and farming comes straight from the heart—his enthusiasm for the subject is truly boundless. Naturally, after the day’s exhausting schedule, as we gathered for our usual evening chat, the conversation turned towards the agricultural potential of our hills.
What emerged from that informal discussion was a remarkable realisation. The soil of the Chittagong Hill Tracts is so incredibly fertile and diverse that it can sustain not just our native fruits, but virtually any fruit species on the planet. With the right techniques, even the world’s most expensive varieties—like the elusive ‘White Jewel Strawberry’ or Japan’s legendary ‘Miyazaki Mango’ (the Egg of the Sun)—could thrive in these hills.
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Fallow Hills as a Global Asset
The sheer volume of land currently lying fallow or under-utilised across miles of rolling hills is staggering. If these lands could be brought under a structured master plan, the Chittagong Hill Tracts wouldn’t just feed Bangladesh—it could easily become the Fruit Basket of the World. A planned, ten-year initiative has the potential to completely revolutionise the economic landscape of the region and alter the standard of living for its people forever.
However, to set this in motion, we first need a coordinated social movement. The local communities, indigenous leadership, and elected representatives of the hills must come together to agree on a sustainable ‘model’. Once a consensus is reached, this unified vision can be formally and precisely presented to the government through their representatives.
How to Begin?
- Initial Government Interventions: It is unrealistic to expect marginalized hill farmers to make large capital investments right at the start. Therefore, through a dedicated government project, high-yielding saplings, modern agricultural tools, and high-tech scientific training must be delivered directly to their doorsteps.
- The ‘Peer-to-Peer’ Replication Model: Once the first harvest is reaped and farmers see substantial returns from selling their premium produce in the market, they will never have to look back. With that earned capital, land owners can independently fund their subsequent farming cycles. In our country, the concept of “seeing is believing” works wonders in farming. When people witness their neighbours prospering, the entire village will naturally follow suit.
- Preservation and Logistics: Since fruits are highly perishable, the government could step in to construct state-of-the-art cold storage facilities in the hills. The management of these facilities could be handed over to local government bodies and regional councils, ensuring that local communities reap the direct benefits.
Knowing our Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s forward-thinking mindset and her unwavering commitment to agricultural development, she would wholeheartedly endorse a well-structured project like this the moment it is brought to her attention.
Funding or administrative goodwill will not be the bottleneck here; the only missing piece is a well-organised initiative. And that initiative must be taken by the people of the hills themselves, standing united across all lines, for the sake of transforming their own destiny. Let us begin to nurture and spread this dream of turning the green potential of our hills into gold.