Foreword

Future growth of the Bangladeshi economy will be strongly influenced by the performance of the rural sector. Both the expansion of agricultural output and the development of the non-farm sector will play important roles, with the latter contributing more substantially to employment and potentially also to agro-based and manufactured exports. This study, which was prepared in connection with our ongoing work on Bangladesh's non-farm sector, explores the structure and dynamics of the rural economy in a comparative framework. It explores recent and potential sources of growth, in the process, providing a valuable spatial perspective on development processes. The study concludes with a wide-ranging policy agenda that gives due attention to the part that local governments can play through institution building, sound administration, resource mobilization, and entrepreneurship.

Rural development is a major objective, not just for Bangladesh, but also for the majority of developing countries. The comparative analysis and policy discussion contained in this study should be of interest to a wide audience.

Mieko Nishimizu
Director, Country Department 1
South Asia Region