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IFAD in Bangladesh

IFAD supports the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh to reduce poverty and increase the productivity of rural poor people in ways that are both sustainable and environmentally friendly. IFAD’s 2006 country strategy for Bangladesh is in line with the aims declared in the government’s poverty reduction strategy paper. Given the vast extent of chronic poverty in the country, IFAD underscores its role in devising innovative approaches to poverty reduction that can then be scaled up and expanded by the government, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and donors.

To focus its efforts to stimulate rural growth, IFAD has selected two groups as targets for its programmes and projects: extremely poor people who have some productive potential, and poor small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs. Many extremely poor people have productive potential, but efforts to reach them have had little success so far. One of the main goals of IFAD’s new country strategy is to direct a range of financial services towards small-scale and marginal farmers and microentrepreneurs who have until now been excluded from access to credit.

IFAD’s operations in Bangladesh over the next five years will support five separate subprogrammes, which have the aims of:

  • making agricultural technologies more readily available to small-scale farmers to boost rural growth and provide people with a secure and adequate food supply and with opportunities for income and employment
  • improving access to markets and financial services for rural small entrepreneurs
  • introducing innovations in infrastructure development, such as transport and access to markets and to water, to benefit the poorest areas
  • improving rural poor people’s access to common property resources such as inland fisheries and public land
  • increasing women’s access to economic opportunities, continuing the progress already made towards the empowerment of women in the country

IFAD supports reforms in key policy areas, including:

  • improvements in agricultural extension and research
  • regulations required for improved access to inland fisheries
  • regulation of rural markets
  • reforms in the regulatory framework for rural finance

 

Source: IFAD


Statistics
Projects: 26

Total cost:
US$1212.0 million

IFAD loan:
US$465.0 million

Directly benefiting:
8,652,390 households
Planned project activities
2006 Nobel Peace Prize

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has welcomed the news of the awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to Professor Mohammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank.
Professor Yunus has been a pioneer of micro-credit lending schemes for the poor in Bangladesh. After 30 years, his bank has 6.6 million borrowers, of which 97% are women.
IFAD president Lennart Båge, reacting to the announcement, said “Professor Yunus’ leadership has brought opportunities to millions of poor rural families worldwide.”
“Professor Yunus challenged IFAD and other international financial and humanitarian institutions to question their approaches and to find better ways to serve poor people” said Båge.
Read more...

Contact information

Nigel Brett
Country programme manager
Via Paolo di Dono, 44
Rome, Italy
Work: +39 0654592516
Fax: +39 0654593516
n.brett@ifad.org