UNDP, GCM to crowd-fund for small farmers in Bangladesh

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh and Global Compact Malaysia (GCM) will start a crowd-funding campaign to boost an ongoing project committed to support farmers' access to markets. “Farmers Becoming Entrepreneurs” is the first donation campaign launched by Impact Bangladesh, an alternative financing platform powered by the UNDP-UNV Innovation Hub. It is meant to boost “Growing Together in Bangladesh” – an innovative franchise model to support farmers’ access to market “by passing the numerous middle entities that affect prices and consequently income.” Through 230 Farmers’ Centres, the project has gained significant results in the past two years “increasing 3 fold the net income of 10,000 smallholder farmers.” According to a press release by UNDP, currently small farmers in Bangladesh are not integrated with the local market and are not receiving fair prices, and over 75% of them live on less than $2 per day. By 2025, there will be 130 million of them if they do not have access to market. In the next 40 days, through the campaign, GCM and UNDP will raise $25,000 to test a digital innovation for 500 farmers. The farmers will have access to mobile devices and technology “to connect to local markets and value chains,” and to manage their finances. The digital innovation meant to transform small farmers into entrepreneurs, the press release reads. It is meant to reach around 10,000 farmers, at the end of the project. Private sector companies like Sygenta have already contributed financial resources to the project. Interested individuals or organisations can find more details on the project's web page: https://www.impactbangladesh.org/product/turn-500-farmers-into-entrepreneurs/. All funds collected will go for the new digital phase of “Growing Together in Bangladesh,” which is going to be powered by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and Bluenumber.