Katalyst project has been facilitating awareness raising on the importance of balanced fertiliser application in Bangladesh since 2006.
The case studies use a framework developed jointly by Katalyst project and Springfield Centre to capture changes of market systems supported by the project. They describe developments in input markets of vegetable, farmed fish and in the maize production and how they contribute to an inclusive economic growth with benefits for small and poor farmers and for private companies in Bangladesh.
The Agribusiness for Trade Competitiveness Project (ATC-P), branded as Katalyst, is a pioneer market systems development project contributing to sustainable poverty reduction in Bangladesh. It is implemented by Swisscontact under the umbrella of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh. The project has been operating in Bangladesh since 2003 in three phases.
Katalyst has identified that Bangladesh’s craft sector possesses a vast potential to contribute to women’s economic empowerment (WEE). . The ‘Empowering Women in Craft’ publication shows how an innovative partnership between Katalyst and BRAC-Aarong provides new perspectives for independent producers and women artisans in the craft industry.
This booklet describes some recent, stand-out innovations and achievements that are the fruits of this future-oriented partnership, fully supported by the Katalyst project. As Katalyst is in its third phase of operations, some of the milestone achievements of the project are reviewed. The project expects to expand on these successful models to be implemented throughout Bangladesh.
In 2014-2016, Katalyst project and the Bangladesh Crop Protection Association (BCPA) extended their work by training farmers, women, retailers and pesticide spray men on the safe and judicious use of pesticides (SUP). This initiative improved the ability of farmers to select the right types of pesticide, and to use them appropriately with the correct dosage.
The ‘Licensing Fish Brood Import’ mini case study shows how Katalyst facilitated the linkage between local hatcheries and international brood sources and together with the Department of Fisheries established a standard operational procedure for brood import
Often, farmers excessively use chemical pesticides with detrimental effects on environmental and human health.The ‘Commercialising Bio-Pesticides in Bangladesh’ mini case study explains how the Katalyst project and private sector partner Ispahani Agro Ltd. formulated a policy recommendation on the amendment of the 1985 Pesticide Act to make the proper registration and marketing of “Bio-Pesticides” possible, allowing companies to market and distribute IPM products to a mass audience.
The ‘ICT based Customer Care Solution for Poor Farmers’ is a case study that highlights Katalyst project’s work in developing low cost ICT solutions for farmers by collaborating with various public and private sector partners. The case study specifically focuses on a missed call based agriculture helpline service that was developed in collaboration with leading agriculture input companies. The service provides agriculture information solutions to smallholder farmers for free. Till date, the service has benefitted approximately 160,000 farmers.
Innovation is one of the driving forces in development. However, innovation can be expensive and at times risky, which oſten prevents or delays the emergence of important new ideas. That is why Katalyst project has launched the Innovation Fund initiative, a grant delivery mechanism to spur and encourage innovations in Bangladesh’s agri-business sector that ultimately benefit poor farmers across Bangladesh.