Rural Microenterprise Transformation Project (RMTP)
The Rural Micro Enterprise Transformation Project (RMTP) is working to extend the financial services to microenterprises as well as to improve the income, food security, and nutrition status of small and marginal farmers, entrepreneurs, and other market actors involved in the value chains of selected high-value agricultural products. The project is implementing value chain development activities to expand the markets for comparative advantage, market demand, and growth of agro-based products. There are provisions for product processing, certification, and marketing by brand image creation in the country and abroad through this project. Also, there are provisions to introduce various new technologies, and methods such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Block Chain, Crowd Funding Platform under this project for poverty alleviation. PKSF, IFAD, DANIDA, POs and various private sectors are jointly financing for this 6 years project.
To implement the RMTP, a financing agreement was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and the IFAD on 3 December 2019. Subsequently, a Subsidiary Loan and Grant Agreement (SLGA) was signed between the Finance Division of Ministry of Finance and PKSF on 2 January 2020.
Project Details
Project Goal
The project goal is to sustainably increase the income, food security and nutrition of marginal and small farmers, and micro-entrepreneurs across selected value chains.
Objective
The development objective is the sustainable growth of selected rural commodity value chains with comparative advantage, market demand, growth potential, and backward linkages to small farmers and micro-entrepreneurs.
Project Participants
The project interventions primarily target (i) the poor, (ii) the transitional poor, and (iii) the enterprising poor. An estimated 445,000 households will be direct participants of the project, of which 100,000 are microenterprise borrowers and the other 345,000 will benefit from value chain development activities.
Project Components
Value Chain Enhancement
Financial Services
Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
This component will enable 445,000 microenterprises to sustainable expand their activities through adoption of efficient production methods, compliance with internationally recognised food safety and traceability standards, and strong market linkages. It will contribute to creating an enabling environment that promotes the growth of micro and small enterprises, and strengthens their linkages with the agribusinesses and other value chain actors. It has five sub-components: (i) organisation of producers; (ii) provision of technical and business services (including GGAP compliance) to producers through private advisory services; (iii) integration of actors across selected value chains; (iv) strengthening of downstream agribusinesses (including GGAP and HACCP compliance as required); and (v) policy dialogue with Government. The value chains that the project will support fall into three broad categories:
a. Crops and horticulture:high-value cereal crops, high-value fruits and vegetables and pulses, beans, seeds etc.b. Aquaculture:mud crab, carp, crayfish, other local species etc. and
c. Livestock:dairy production, red meat, poultry, eggs
This component will provide sustainable financial services to micro-entrepreneurs and growing/larger enterprises and agribusinesses allowing sustainable growth of their practices. The project also leverages commercial finance through non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) for investment in growing/larger enterprises and agribusinesses to expand the market for the output of micro-enterprises.
This component aims to strengthen the capability of PKSF and it’s Partner Organizations (POs) as development organizations by leveraging trends in Information Communication Technology (ICT) through ‘Distributed Digital Ledger Technology (Block chain)’, e-commerce and branding, financial services through crowd funding, and new technologies to ensure that the project is managed satisfactorily.
Media Center
Remarkable media coverage on tulip cultivation
This year, with the financial assistance of PKSF, IFAD and DANIDA, Tulip has been cultivated at Darjipara village in Tetulia upazila of Panchagarh district by ESDO, a Partner Organization of PKSF. A total of 20 marginal farmers collectively sowed 100,000 bulbs on 11 January 2023 in two acres of land. Last year, eight female farmers cultivated tulips from 40,000 bulbs in three separate places in 40 decimals of land.
A total of ten tulip varieties were planted this season. These include Antarctica (white), Denmark (orange), Lalibela (red), Dutch Sunrise (yellow), Strong Gold (yellow), Zantupink (pink), White Marvel (white), Mystic van Eijk (pink), Happy Generation (white-red) and Golden Ticket (yellow).
A series of news reports have been published on tulip cultivation in different national and international media.
For more details, please follow the links: https://pksf.org.bd/remarkable-media-coverage-on-tulip-cultivation/
RMTP Gallery
