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A mega project, aiming to boost the growth of small and medium agro-based enterprises in the country, is set to kick off its operation shortly.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) with the credit support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will implement the US$ 48 million project titled 'Agri-business Development Project', official sources said.
"Necessary preparations are on to launch the long-term project. Hopefully, it would go into operation by the end of next month," a senior MOA official told the FE.
Development of entrepreneurships in the agribusiness is high on the agenda of the project.
Officials, however, said establishment of a separate agri-business cell at the MOA has been proposed under the project to facilitate the execution of the scheme in the long run.
The ADB has already assured the government of providing soft-credit for the scheme, according to official sources.
As per the assurance, some $ 42.6 million of the ADB credit would be available as project fund while another $ 5.0 million is to be available in the form of technical assistance for the project, officials said.
Another ministry official, however, indicated that the negotiation for the proposed credit was to be completed by the current month.
The key objective of the projects is to reduce poverty by creating more job opportunities in the rural areas, according to officials.
The scheme also aims at ensuring enhanced market access of small farmers through expansion of agri-business activities in the country, especially rural areas.
Besides, a strong business network would be established across the country to ensure a greater market access of agri-products, they added.
Another important component of the project would be to ease the existing regulatory constraints to the growth of agri-business in the country, they mentioned.
Keeping the objectives into account, a sum of $ 30 million would be disbursed directly among the aspirant entrepreneurs as credit while the remaining $ 20 million will be spent for promotional activities.
According to the proposal, credit ranging between Tk 5,000 and Tk 50,000 will be provided to individual entrepreneurs for doing various types income-generating agri-business.
A comparatively lower rate of interest will be charged from the project beneficiaries, an official said, without going into further details.
The BASIC Bank and the BRAC Bank are expected to operate the entire amount of project fund through various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in their respective areas.
A number of NGOs, especially those are engaged in the agricultural activities, will be integrated with the disbursement process because of their expertise and strong network in the rural areas.
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