The soft outer covering of the body of vertebrates is called skin. The skin-covering system consists of multiple layers of ectodermal collar that protect the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments, and internal organs of mammals. Amphibians, reptiles, and birds tend to be of a different nature. All mammals have some hair on their skin, even marine mammals such as whales and dolphins that appear to be hairless.
Leather is a durable and flexible material that is made from animal skin and tanned skins. The common raw material is cattle skin.
Leather is used to make various articles, including bags, book bindings, fashion accessories, footwear, automobile seats, clothing, and furniture. Leather products are made from leather using different methods. The first record of leather is found in 2200 BC.
The use of leather has been criticized in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, according to animal rights groups. They claim that it is immoral to kill animals for leather goods.
The place where leather goods are made is called a tannery. The raw hides are tanned in tanneries. Shoe surfaces, bags, suitcases, belts, wallets, jackets, etc. are made of leather suitable for production. Randa Prasad Saha set up the first tannery in Narayanganj in 1940. The tannery was later shifted to Hazaribagh in Dhaka.
At present there are about 207 tannery units in Bangladesh. Approximately 200-220 million cubic feet of leather is produced every year, of which about 80% is converted into crust and mature leather and exported to Bangladesh. The rest of the leather is produced to meet the domestic demand.
The Leather Industry City has been set up at Savar in Dhaka with the aim of bringing the tannery industry under all kinds of infrastructural facilities and transforming it into an environmentally friendly industry. As a result, the tannery industry will shift from the densely populated Hazaribagh area to its own industrial city in Savar.
The production and supply of leather depends on the availability of livestock or the demand for meat. So it is not possible to increase the total leather supply in the short term. The leather industry has huge potential in the Bangladeshi export market. This sector is increasing in international demand. The only way to increase income in the leather sector is to produce and export more value-added products.
Despite the immense potential of the domestic raw material-dependent leather industry, Bangladesh has not yet been able to fully utilize it for various reasons. Leather-producing farms and small leather traders in the villages did not get as much benefit as the city traders. Every year during the Eid-ul-Adha season, small and marginal leather traders have to suffer due to the exclusive dominance of tannery owners.
In developing this industry, the focus should be on building skilled human resources for multi-purpose product production and export growth. The Ministry of Industries is trying to bring the domestic tannery industry up to international standards. Besides tanned leather, Bangladesh now exports shoes, travel bags, belts, jackets, and wallets.
The development of the leather industry closely links to issues such as veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, and artificial insemination. So we should take more care in these areas. Such measures will lead to the development of the leather industry in the country.
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