IFAD, Grameen Euglena team up to support small farmers

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Grameen Euglena has partnered up for an initiative to support smallholder farmers in cultivating mung beans.

This high-value crop will help them to increase their income and tap into international markets, IFAD said in a statement.

The collaboration was launched on Wednesday in Dhaka with a letter of intent signed by both parties.

During the six-year partnership from 2022 to 2028, IFAD and Euglena, a joint venture between Japan's Euglena Co Ltd and Bangladesh's Grameen Krishi Foundation, will work together to ensure the availability of good quality agricultural inputs at an affordable price, and train farmers to efficiently use inputs for safe, nutritious and diversified production.

The joint initiative will focus on facilitating market access for producers in climate-vulnerable coastal regions, especially women and smallholders, and support farmers to meet quality standards and gain access to the export market.

As part of this initiative, coastal farmers will be trained in technology used in Japan and given technical assistance to access international mung bean value chains.

“This renewed partnership will spur engagement with the private sector in Bangladesh. If interests are aligned and the proposed activities improve rural farmers’ conditions, we will endeavour to engage in more collaborations like this,” said Arnoud Hameleers, IFAD Country Director for Bangladesh.

“Grameen Euglena is eager to eliminate the poverty and malnutrition of the farmers in rural areas. A key factor to achieve this goal is to generate synergies between the public and private sectors,” said Yukoh Satake, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Grameen Euglena.

IFAD has been investing in poor rural women and men in Bangladesh for over 40 years through 35 projects So far, IFAD has invested $973.5 million, reaching 11.7 million households, added the statement.