Will it be possible to buy a cow at a fair price? Many people have this doubt before Eid-ul-Azha. Some assume the price of a sacrificial animal is a kind of lottery: with luck you get the cow you like cheaply, otherwise your pocket may be emptied. Whatever the price, those who sacrifice are content to have done so in the name of Allah.

But this time the situation of cattle farmers is different. Their worry is whether selling cattle raised over a whole year will even cover their costs. Their fear is Indian cattle coming in through smuggling routes. All year they bought feed at high prices and worked hard to get their cattle and goats ready in the hope of earning a little at this Eid, and smuggled cattle have deepened their fears. The government is also aware of this.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid recently said they had met the BGB so that cattle could not enter Bangladesh from India across the border. Even as the minister's assurance was reported, the media also reported that smugglers were bringing cattle illegally through the border areas of Mymensingh, Sylhet, Moulvibazar and Brahmanbaria. If illegal cattle entry is not stopped, the country's farmers could be ruined, as recent history suggests.

About 10 lakh cattle come illegally from India and Myanmar every year. If the same number comes this year, the market could fall so far that farmers will have to sell well below their production cost. Demand for sacrificial animals this year is, admittedly, the highest in several years. Last year demand was much lower than the year before because of inflation. Demand began rising from 2015, when it was only 85–86 lakh nationwide; by 2024 it had passed 1 crore, before dipping somewhat in 2025 because of inflation.

According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, demand this year is 1,01,06,334 animals, while 1,23,33,840 have been produced. With more animals than demand, farmers already feared losses. If at least 10 lakh more cattle are smuggled across the border, there will obviously be an adverse effect on the market.

A huge economic activity goes on around this annual festival, but little government attention is visible. What oversight exists is limited to increasing production, while preparation and services are wholly neglected. Marketing is left entirely to producers, and the government ends its responsibility by collecting crores of taka from leasing the cattle markets.

So far, conditions at the cattle markets are said to be tolerable; what happens in the few days before Eid remains to be seen. Because of inflation many people will share a sacrifice this time, so perhaps one or two lakh fewer animals will be needed, which will raise the chance of losses for farmers further. The way to reduce their losses right now is to stop the smuggling.

The tannery business, one of Bangladesh's major industries, is also tied to this sacrificial animal economy, and here too there is extreme mismanagement. Yet the leather industry makes a big contribution to foreign exchange earnings: processed leather, leather shoes, jackets, bags, belts and other products are exported to about 53 countries in Europe, America and Asia, earning about $1.14 billion a year.

Because of corruption and mismanagement in the leather industry, the price of rawhide is abnormally low, which has affected the real value of the animals. The government has raised the price of hide by Tk 2 per square foot this year. In reality, people are seen giving away hides of sacrificed animals for free, and orphanages and madrasas that collect and sell them do not gain much, even though shoes made from this leather cost Tk 4,000–5,000. This mismanagement has also affected animal prices.

One might think beef must therefore be very cheap in the market. Here too there is a trick: ordinary buyers cannot buy meat cheaply. Why not is a separate issue. But given the big contribution of livestock to Bangladesh's economy, the government's role is not irrelevant.

To escape growing unemployment, a large part of the country's youth has turned to livestock rearing. In some cases the livestock department acts as an adviser to help them raise production, but how practical the government's support is remains open to question.

According to the government's own figures, more than 22 lakh animals have been produced above demand. What steps has the government taken about this surplus? And, adding insult to injury, can the government guarantee an end to smuggling? Two points stand out. The first is advice and support to farmers in production management. It must be said that no attention is paid to proper marketing or production management. Likewise, smuggling does not stop despite everything being known, and there is no accountability for its not stopping.

Border guards, run through the Ministry of Home Affairs, are responsible for stopping smuggling. The livestock department can help with production management. The moment it saw production exceeding demand, it should have known that producers would face losses and that this could hurt the economy. It could have advised and helped farmers to focus equally on milk production. With the necessary support, no farmer would face losses.

A small farmer the writer knows in Gazipur used to raise only sacrificial cattle a few years ago. For the past two years, keeping a few cattle for sacrifice out of interest, he has turned his whole farm into dairy cows. The issue is not only raising animal production but also management, and the local livestock department does not seem to pay attention to that.

If necessary, discussions with and cooperation from the border guards of neighbouring India could be sought to stop cattle coming from India. Otherwise farmers' hard times will only grow, and many may have to wind up their businesses. No one wants that.

The writer is a journalist, children's author and researcher on the Liberation War.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.