Dhaka, Nov. 27 -- Speakers at a national seminar in the capital on Wednesday urged the government to formally recognise women farmers and ensure their equal access to agricultural services, saying they play the biggest role in the country's food production but remain the most deprived.

The seminar, titled "Inclusion of Women Farmers in Climate-Resilient Crop Production and the Role of Policymakers," was organised by AVAS, BINDU, COAST Foundation and Street Child UK with support from the Gates Foundation. It was moderated by COAST Foundation Executive Director Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, while Md. Iqbal Uddin presented the keynote.

Speakers noted that women constitute 58 percent of Bangladesh's agricultural workforce, yet only 19 percent hav...