Agriculture and Food Security

BIMSTEC region is home to around 1.8 billion people, nearly 22 percent of the global population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$3.6 trillion. In this region, Agriculture is the common people's principal employment source. Acknowledging the cumulative importance of agriculture and ensuring sustainable food security, the Leaders of the BIMSTEC Member States included “Agriculture and Food Security” as one of the BIMSTEC core areas of cooperation. The leaders have time and again adopted necessary measures to strengthen this bond among the BIMSTEC Member States.

Myanmar is the lead country for the coordination of activities in the Agriculture and Food Security Sector with two sub-sectors-

(i)Agriculture (ii) Fisheries & Livestock

The establishment of the Agriculture and Food Security sector and the agriculture, fisheries & livestock Sub-sectors were approved by the 5th Summit (Colombo – virtual – 30 March 2021) following a process of rationalization and reorganization of sectors and sub-sectors. 

 Agriculture

At the Eighth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 19 December 2005, Agriculture was included as another stand-alone sector of BIMSTEC cooperation.  

• Institutional Mechanism

 Flow Chart for reporting and decision-making mechanisms of the BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation

The BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture (BAMM) and the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting on Agriculture (SOM-A) are held in a regular basis. Myanmar, in its capacity as the Lead Country for Agriculture Sector, hosted the First BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture (1st BAMM) on 12 July 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, preceded by the First BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting on Agriculture (1st SOM-A) on 11 July 2019. The Second BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture (2nd BAMM) was held New Delhi, India, preceded by the Second BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting on Agriculture (2nd SOM-A) on 09-10 November 2022, in a virtual mode.

• Joint Statement of the 2nd BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture
• Joint Statement of the First BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture

The BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation (EGMAC) is the institutional mechanism to conduct the business of the Agriculture Sector besides BAMM and SOM. So far, the Expert Group has held nine (9) meetings since its first meeting held in Myanmar in 2007.

Table 1:  BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation (EGMAC)

• BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation Common Projects

The 1st EGMAC (Myanmar, 15-16 March 2007) identified Areas of Cooperation, Plan of Action, and Common Projects under Agricultural cooperation. The 2nd EGMAC (India, 24-26 April 2008) designated Lead Coordinating Countries to spearhead cooperation on each of the Common Projects. The 7th EGMAC (Bangladesh, 24-25 April 2019) decided to have the following Seven (7) Common Projects:

• Good Agriculture Practices in BIMSTEC Region

BIMSTEC is promoting Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the Bay of Bengal area as an integrated effort to address difficulties and promote sustainable agricultural growth. The Member States developed comprehensive papers that focused on each of their agriculture sectors. The Comprehensive Papers on GAP Experience examine GAP experience in the BIMSTEC area, analyzing agricultural methods, best practices, and areas for improvement through reviewing initiatives, policies, and technology in member nations. The purpose of these Papers is to dive into the GAP experience in the BIMSTEC area, examining different agricultural methods that have been effectively applied to address the region's particular issues.

• Plan of Action on Strengthening BIMSTEC Agricultural Cooperation (2023-2027)

To maintain the ongoing Agricultural cooperation among the Member States, the Second BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting approved the updated Plan of Action the Plan, incorporating all the Common Projects in consultation with the Lead Country-Myanmar. 

• BIMSTEC Scholarship on Agriculture

To deepen the Agricultural cooperation among the BIMSTEC Member States, a scholarship program on Agriculture was proposed.  During the First BAMM and following up on the discussions of the First BIMSTEC SOM-A (Myanmar, 11-12 July 2019), India offered a fully-funded BIMSTEC Scholarship on Agriculture – 06 slots for Masters and 06 slots for the Ph.D. programme. One Master and one Ph.D. for each BIMSTEC Member State.

• Other Events

India hosted the “International Seminar on Climate Smart Farming Systems” on 11-13 December 2019 in New Delhi and all BIMSTEC Member States participated in the Seminar.

Fisheries & Livestock

The fisheries sector has been the priority sector of BIMSTEC cooperation since the Second BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting held in Dhaka on 19 November 1998. The Second BIMSTEC Summit (New Delhi, 13 November 2008) decided to include inland fisheries in the scope of cooperation in this area.

• Institutional Mechanism

The 17^th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting (Colombo– virtual, 01 April 2021) decided to establish an Expert Group on Fisheries and Livestock to deal with issues pertaining to Fisheries & Livestock. The Second BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ on Agriculture (2nd SOM-A) agreed to include Fisheries and Livestock Sub-sector under the purview of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials on Agriculture (SOM-A) and BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture (BAMM).

• Activities under Fisheries subsector

1. Before the rationalization of sectors, activities under the Fisheries sector were led by Thailand. A number of activities were commenced to develop the fisheries in Bay of Bengal region.

2.  At present, Myanmar as a lead country developing a Plan of Action and will generate concrete project-based activities for the promotion of fisheries and livestock.

• Concluded Projects under Fisheries sub-sector 

• Agricultural information of the BIMSTEC Member States (view more)