IFAD, Bangladesh invest $92.4m for rural poor

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Bangladesh signed a financing agreement yesterday to sustainably improve incomes and promote resilience to extreme weather conditions for 303,000 rural households in six flood-prone districts of northern Bangladesh.

The agreement for the Promoting Resilience of Vulnerable through Access to Infrastructure, Improved Skills and Information project was signed by President of IFAD Gilbert F Houngbo and Secretary of the Economic Relations Division KaziShofiqulAzam.

The total cost of the project is US$92.4 million, including a $63.2 million loan and a $1.2 million grant from IFAD. The government will contribute $27.9 million, according to a message of IFAD received from Rome.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whois now attending the 41st Governing body meeting of IFAD in Rome, said, “We hope and pray that in continuing such a partnership IFAD will play an important role because IFAD's model of mutual help and partnership is very different from that of other UN agencies and organizations.”

“The high incidence of poverty in the project area is due to seasonal flooding, inadequate rural infrastructure, low agricultural productivity, and limited livelihood opportunities outside farming,” said Benoit Thierry, IFAD country programme manager for Bangladesh.

“The rural population faces challenges in accessing services and markets. The situation is aggravated by seasonal outmigration, often leaving women to look after their families and land. Together with the government, we are addressing these challenges,” he added.

The project aims to improve rural peoples' resilience in 25 flood-prone upazilas, or townships, through building weatherproofed infrastructure, creating off-farm employment opportunities, and strengthening communities' ability to adapt to climate change related risks. The project will put in place an early warning system managed by the communities themselves, with the scope of scaling up this technique to other communities outside the target area.

The project will be implemented over six years and in six districts: Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Rangpur. These districts are often flooded due to overflows of the Jamuna and Teesta rivers. The infrastructure and flood information system will benefit the overall population of the project areas.