Diversified Resilient Agriculture for Improved Food and Nutrition Security (DRAIFNS)

About the Project

In Bangladesh, GAFSP funds totaling $20 million will help improve the food security of smallholder farmers and promote sustainable, inclusive, climate-resilient, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices. The project aims to contribute to the public investment priority of achieving food security and promoting sustainable, inclusive, climate resilient, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Bangladesh, and responding to the government’s strategy of restoring and developing the agricultural supply chain in aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis by minimizing the impact of COVID-19 for smooth agriculture growth and ensuring food security after the crisis.  

This proposed project will be implemented over four years in line with the government’s agriculture and food security development agenda as described in the Eighth Five-Year Plan (07/2020-06/2025). It will invest in restoring and developing agriculture productivity and diversification capacity as immediate reactions to the COVID-19 crisis and subsequently invest in strengthening the basis for a more sustainable and nutrition-sensitive food system after the crisis, with a focus on “building back better”. The project implementation will follow the Government DPP for approved donor-assisted project design reports; it will target the vulnerable men and women living in three climate hotspots identified in the Government’s Delta Plan, by taking the farmer groups as entry points to reach out to the vulnerable women, youth, ethnic groups among other target segments. Detailed design will elaborate a community-driven development strategy that operates on the principles of transparency, participation accountability, and enhanced local capacity, making optimal use of the in-place mechanisms and instruments such as multi-stakeholder platforms, farm groups’ capacity building, focus training for women, and AWPB process. Adequate human and financial resources will be allocated to support the capacity-building needs of target groups. 

As a result, the project will help increase the availability of diversified, nutritious, safe, and demand-driven agri-foods by increasing agriculture productivity and sustainable production of crops, farmers’ capability and income, efficient technology and technical services, and sustainable management of natural resources, persons receiving services promoted or supported by the project, beneficiaries of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). The project will also enable an agribusiness environment for public-private partnership, with improved post-harvest management and efficiency of market access, increased volume of agricultural production processed by post-harvest facilities, and increased sales and profit.