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How ADB Is Helping the Poor in Bangladesh
Agriculture and Livestock Production
updated April 2003

Participatory Livestock Development

The project helps to reduce poverty of women and rural communities by providing micro credit and related services through experienced NGOs for selected livestock enterprises.

It also aims to

• improve the status of women
• reduce poverty
• increase rural employment in the northwest and north-central regions of Bangladesh where there is a high incidence of poverty

It provides training and micro credit for raising improved breed of poultry, and beef-fattening, through a close cooperation between the Government's livestock department and NGOs.

As of June 2002, about 383,000 households have directly benefited from this project. Many of the poor landless women who are participating in the project activities have bought homesteads of their own or improved their houses, rented-in croplands, started small business or have expanded their income-generating activities.

Increased income from poultry helped many families to send their children to school instead of sending them to work. Involvement in the project also increased intake of eggs and meat in the family and some households have acquired assets like radio, bicycle, etc., giving them better access to outside information and market.

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North-West Crop Diversification

This project supports efforts to reduce poverty by improving economic growth in the northwest region of the country. It promotes diversification to high value cash crops among small-scale farmers, encouraging them the use of new crops and cropping techniques through training, extension, and credit provided by a partnership between the Government and NGOs.

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Command Area Development Project

This project has helped to sustain an increase in agricultural production, provide a reliable and equitable irrigation water supply, including the construction of on-farm field channels, physical improvement of the existing distribution and drainage systems, and minor flood protection works through the comprehensive development of the entire service area - the command area - of the irrigated areas within the existing irrigation systems at Pabna and Meghna-Dhonagoda.
Besides developing and improving on-farm and other irrigation facilities, the Project has helped to

• establish water management organizations that allows direct involvement of the targeted project beneficiaries
• institute cost recovery arrangements for proper operation and maintenance of the systems and on-farm facilities
• reduce poverty in the project areas by creating employment opportunities for landless people and disadvantaged women
• prevent environmental pollution from misuse of pesticides in agricultural production; mitigate adverse environmental impact of previous flood protection works on fisheries
• develop small-scale fisheries

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