Business Desk :
Bangladesh has received grants from a global fund announced for producer organisations and countries by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).
GAFSP has recently announced $121 million in new grants for nine national governments and an additional $30 million for producer organisations based in 12 countries worldwide.
The global fund is dedicated to reducing food insecurity and poverty in low-income countries and aims to strengthen sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems in the world’s poorest countries, in response to rising food insecurity linked to Covid-19 and climate change.
For over a decade, GAFSP has supported locally-led, inclusive projects across the entire agriculture value chain – from “farm to fork”.
For the first time in its history, GAFSP is providing small-scale grants directly to producer organisations to help meet the demand for financing for smallholder farmers and their organisations.
“Our farmers need finance to lift themselves out of poverty but accessing formal sources of finance is difficult for farmers. GAFSP’s innovative approach of providing finance to farmers’ organisations directly makes it possible for us to make the investments we need to uplift our community,” said Beauty Khatun, member of the Sara Bangla Krishak Society (National Network of Farmers’ Organisations) in Bangladesh on the topic.
The new country grants – to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nepal, Senegal, South Sudan, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu – will help countries achieve their national development priorities, such as improving farmers’ incomes and enhancing climate resilience, while strengthening private sector engagement.
The new producer organisation grants – in Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, Maldives, Nicaragua, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda – will help strengthen the institutional capacities of these organisations as key economic players in the value chain, including through better access to finance, markets, and innovative solutions for their farmers.
