One Village, One Product: Time to turn rural economy into a national brand

Rajshahi's mangoes, Tangail's sarees, Sylhet's tea, Rangpur's shatranji rugs, Comilla's khadi, and the shital pati mats of Sylhet and Jhalokathi - these products are deeply intertwined with the names and identities of Bangladesh's villages and localities. Built over generations through skill, ingenuity, tradition, and creativity, these products are not merely sources of livelihood; they are also part of the country's cultural identity.

However, many of these products have still failed to move beyond local markets. Weak marketing systems, inadequate modern design and quality control, insufficient packaging and branding, financing constraints, and weak connections with international markets mean producers are often unable to receive fair prices.

The government is now taking an initiative to change this reality by transforming villages from mere centers of production into integrated economic forces combining entrepreneurship, industry, creativity, and markets. Through the implementation of the “One Village, One Product” model, the plan could be to transform the old identity of local products into new brands, local artisans into entrepreneurs, and village-based production into enterprises connected with national and global markets.

In the budget for the current 2026-27 fiscal year, the creative economy has been given separate importance for the first time, with this initiative being incorporated into the broader creative economy framework. Under the government's plan, traditional and creative products will be identified, with efforts to improve their quality, introduce modern designs, expand markets, and enhance export capacity. The budget has proposed a direct allocation of Tk 300 crore for the creative economy.

Social Welfare Minister AZM Zahid Hossain shared his views over the context in an event saying he believes that strengthening the economic capacity of rural communities must be linked with social protection and employment. In other words, the biggest challenge will be to connect “One Village, One Product” not merely to a handicraft project, but to a broader framework for increasing the income, employment, and self-reliance of marginalized people.

He said that the government's long-term plan includes increasing the contribution of the creative economy to 1.5 percent of GDP and building a national brand called "Created in Bangladesh."

In this context, State Minister for Social Welfare Farzana Sharmin Putul said in a programme that work is underway to launch the “One Village, One Product” initiative soon. According to her, the center of the government's development plans is no longer limited to Dhaka or major cities; the goal is also to make villages economically self-reliant.

She said that genuine development of a village does not mean merely building roads or infrastructure - it means ensuring the welfare of every family, education for children, employment opportunities for young people, safety and healthcare for women, and opportunities for families to earn a stable income.

Sakif Shamim, Chairman of the Center for Strategic and Economic Research (CSER) and Managing Director of Labaid Hospital Group, said, "'One Village, One Product' does not simply mean producing a single product; it means transforming a local economic identity into a sustainable business force."

According to his analysis, Bangladesh's villages already possess raw materials, skills, traditions, and production capabilities. The problem is that these resources are fragmented. In one place, a weaver produces fabric, someone else dyes it, another person handles packaging, while someone else sells it in the market. As a result, producers receive low prices while consumers have to pay more.

Sakif Shamim believes that product-based clusters must be developed to reduce this gap. The collection of raw materials, production, processing, quality control, packaging, storage, transportation, and marketing should be brought together within an integrated system in the same area.

Local producers and entrepreneurs should remain at the center of decision-making, while the government should play a supporting role.

An important part of his proposal is a digital economic identity. If alternative credit profiles for small entrepreneurs can be created using data on production, sales, transactions, and business activities, opportunities for cash-flow-based financing could expand beyond collateral-based lending. This would be particularly important for women entrepreneurs.

Sakif Shamim further said, "'One Village, One Product' is therefore not an ordinary project. If successful, villages will no longer remain merely sources of agricultural products or labor; they will become integrated economic centers for production, entrepreneurship, design, technology, financing, and markets."

If village products such as shital pati mats, shatranji rugs, handloom textiles, pottery, or woven goods can establish a place in global markets under the "Created in Bangladesh" identity, the benefits will not be limited to increased sales of a single product. Income will rise, employment will be created, traditions will be preserved, and villages will become places of opportunity for the younger generation.

Creating a pathway from village to market, market to national brand, and national brand to global market will be the biggest test of the “One Village, One Product” program.

SME Foundation Chairman Md. Obaidur Rahman said that the foundation has already signed several agreements with banks and financial institutions to make financing easier for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. Through a revolving fund, arrangements have been made to provide loans of around Tk 300 crore.

Entrepreneurs can obtain loans ranging from Tk 100,000 to Tk 2.5 million, at an interest rate of 8 percent. Women, marginalized entrepreneurs, and disadvantaged entrepreneurs will be given priority.

He said that if the SME Foundation's existing financing structure can be linked with village-based production clusters under the “One Village, One Product” initiative, a major obstacle facing entrepreneurs could be removed.

According to the government, the most significant infrastructural component of the plan is the establishment of a world-class Central Creative Hub on 160 acres of land in Purbachal. In addition, there are plans to establish regional creative hubs at the divisional, district, and upazila levels.

These hubs are expected to provide opportunities for product exhibitions, marketing, training, design development, and market connectivity.

CSER's Analysis of “One Village, One Product”

Sakif Shamim, Chairman of the Center for Strategic and Economic Research (CSER) and an economist, recently presented the organization's analysis of “One Village, One Product.”

In the analysis, he said that Rajshahi's mangoes, Tangail's sarees, Sylhet's tea, Narsingdi's handloom textiles, Rangpur's shatranji rugs, Comilla's khadi, and Bogura's doi have long been associated with particular regions of Bangladesh.

These products are connected with local history, culture, skills, and people's livelihoods. However, these fragmented local identities have yet to be transformed into a coordinated national economic force.

As a result, a product that could serve as the livelihood base for the people of a village often loses its potential when it enters the broader market because of weak marketing, inadequate processing, middlemen, and financing constraints.

The question is: To what extent have we been able to transform these local identities into major economic forces?

Japan faced almost the same question. In 1979, Governor Morihiko Hiramatsu launched the “One Village, One Product” (OVOP) movement in Japan's Oita Prefecture.

The objective was to build products and enterprises based on local resources, skills, and traditions so that local communities could strengthen their economies while also competing in broader markets.

The greatest lesson of OVOP was the transformation of a local economic identity into a sustainable business force. Local people would decide where the potential of their area lay, while the government and other institutions would provide support in skills development, financing, infrastructure, branding, and market connectivity.

In other words, the foundation of production would remain local, but the market outlook would be global.

This concept was subsequently adopted in various countries outside Japan as well.

For Bangladesh, the lesson is even more significant because our villages already possess countless products, technical skills, agricultural resources, and traditions.

Our challenge is not to create new potential from scratch; rather, it is to organize the potential that already exists and bring it within an effective economic framework.

This approach is even more necessary in the context of Bangladesh. Our rural economy still depends heavily on a large number of small producers and entrepreneurs.

Rural producers often receive relatively low prices for their products, while those products reach final consumers at much higher prices. A significant portion of this gap between producers and consumers is created by a weak value chain.

Therefore, the objective of the “One Village, One Product” initiative cannot be limited to increasing production of a particular product. The goal must be to strengthen the entire value chain of that product.

This transformation is possible if an effective cluster can be built around a particular product.

Here, data-driven alternative credit assessment can play an important role. If an entrepreneur's production, sales, transactions, training, and business activities can be recorded through a digital economic identity, an alternative credit profile can gradually be developed.

Based on this profile, it may become possible to create opportunities for activity- and cash-flow-based financing beyond collateral-dependent lending.

However, simply creating a digital system will not ensure inclusion.

Many rural entrepreneurs still lack adequate digital skills, smartphones, or reliable internet connectivity. Therefore, opening the doors to the digital economy will require training, local support centers, and easy-to-use services alongside digital infrastructure.

Policymakers must also ensure that technology does not create new barriers to entry.

Another important foundation of this framework could be the participation of women entrepreneurs.

A large number of women in Bangladesh's rural economy are engaged in various forms of economic activity from home, including clothing production, handicrafts, food products, and agricultural processing.

However, a large proportion of them remain outside formal business structures. They produce goods but are not registered as entrepreneurs; they earn income but have limited access to banking services or business loans based on that income.

The “One Village, One Product” framework itself could provide a strong economic platform for women.

To organize women entrepreneurs, village-based Women Economic Yards or similar support centers could be established. These centers could provide training, production organization, collection, quality control, packaging, banking connections, and direct communication with buyers.

However, creating a separate project for women and keeping them outside the national OVOP framework would not be a solution.

Instead, special support for women should be ensured within the same digital identity, market infrastructure, and value chain.

This would reduce the risk of creating multiple registrations and separate databases for the same entrepreneur and make it possible to build an integrated national entrepreneur database.

For rural entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, the problem is often more about markets than production.

Producing a good product does not automatically create buyers. Modern packaging, product design, branding, certification, digital marketing, and a reliable delivery system are necessary.

To transform a local product into a national brand, these factors must be treated as integral components of the production system.

Here, direct connections can be established between large businesses, retailers, e-commerce platforms, exporters, and corporate buyers and rural producer clusters.

This could reduce dependence on middlemen while giving producers greater certainty about long-term buyers and markets.

If the market, technology, and investment capabilities of the private sector can be utilized alongside government support, the economic foundation of OVOP can become stronger.

The same reality applies to exports.

Although "Village to Global" is an attractive concept, entering international markets requires ensuring product quality, safety, certification, packaging, consistency of supply, and buyer confidence.

The government's role here is not to replace entrepreneurs but to create an enabling environment.

The government will not operate businesses in every village. Rather, it will ensure the necessary infrastructure, training, financing opportunities, market connectivity, quality control, and policy support.

Ownership of products and business decisions should remain in the hands of local entrepreneurs and communities.

At the same time, the private sector must be made a central partner in this initiative.

Banks can provide financing, technology companies can develop digital infrastructure, large businesses can provide markets, exporters can establish connections with international buyers, and logistics companies can strengthen supply systems.

In this way, OVOP can evolve from a government initiative into a public-private economic platform.

Bangladesh has now reached a point where the rural economy can no longer be viewed merely as a fragmented space of agriculture and small-scale production.

Villages must be viewed as integrated economic units combining production, entrepreneurship, technology, financing, and markets.

If a complete economic ecosystem can be built around the unique product of a village, new opportunities for employment, income, and local investment can emerge.

As a result, the pressure on young people to migrate to cities in search of employment could also be reduced to some extent.

Therefore, “One Village, One Product”0__ should not be viewed as a slogan or a short-term project. It could become a long-term framework for restructuring Bangladesh's rural economy.

Its success will depend on how effectively we can ensure local ownership, how effectively we can build functional value chains, and how quickly we can connect producers with financing, technology, and markets.

Japan's experience has shown that it is possible to create a sustainable economic identity centered on the unique strengths of a village.

Bangladesh's task will not be to copy that concept exactly; rather, it will be to develop an effective Bangladeshi OVOP model suited to the country's own resources, workforce, entrepreneurial culture, and market realities.

To create the pathway from village to market, market to national brand, and national brand to global market, producers must first be empowered.

If “One Village, One Product”1__ succeeds, its greatest achievement will not simply be increased sales of a particular product. Rather, it will be the transformation of Bangladesh's rural population from producers into entrepreneurs and local artisans into active partners in the national economy.

If the next chapter of Bangladesh's economic growth is to become broader, employment-oriented, and inclusive, our villages can be an important foundation of that chapter.

And one effective pathway to transforming the unique strengths of every village into an economic identity could be One Village, One Product.