Agribusiness Development

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The Project is aimed at reducing poverty in Bangladesh through agribusiness growth that generates income and employment in rural areas. The outcome of the Project will be expanded activities of rural enterprises engaged in commercial agriculture production, input supply, marketing, processing, and transportation. These will generate employment in rural and peri-urban areas, increase the value added of nontraditional crops and commodities, and increase rural incomes.Specifically, the Project will target small-scale agribusinesses that do not have the wherewithal to mobilize the financing they require to expand, or the capacity to open up new downstream markets. This will be undertaken with the assistance of NGOs experienced in providing credit and support to rural enterprises at the grassroots level. The rural poor will be the ultimate beneficiaries of all of these actions through enhanced employment opportunities, income generation, and agricultural production.The Project outputs include (i) establishment, expansion, and successful operation of agribusinesses by small-scale entrepreneurs; (ii) strengthened capacity of participating NGOs and wholesale banks in agribusiness lending; (iii) strengthened capacity of agribusiness associations in policy dialogue and agribusiness information and technology dissemination; and (iv) improved policy environment enabling private sector participation.