UN agency support to improve smallholder farmers’ agricultural production and access to markets in Bangladesh

IFAD will provide US$23.86 million as a highly concessional loan to fund the $214 million Second National Agricultural Technology Programme (NATP-II). The project will also be funded by the World Bank ($176 million) and USAID  ($7.4 million). NATP-II will cover 57 of the country's 64 districts and span a broad range of agroecological zones across Bangladesh.

The financial agreement was signed by Mohammad Mejbahuddin, Senior Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh and Hubert Boirard, Country Programme Manager for Bangladesh, IFAD.

“In Bangladesh, poverty in rural areas is still three times higher than in urban areas. Under the new programme, farming households will benefit directly or indirectly from extension services, hands-on training and on-farm demonstrations of climate-smart technologies and applied research,”  said Boirard.

The programme will also strengthen the capacity of the National Agriculture Research System (NARS) to generate and disseminate agricultural technologies aimed at increasing farm productivity and reducing post-harvest losses; promote farmer groups and producer organizations and link them to existing markets; provide support for the sustainable development of inland fish farms; and ensure that a significant proportion of direct beneficiaries are women.

Since 1978, IFAD has invested a total of $717.2 million in 31 projects in Bangladesh benefitting more than 10 million households.