Final performance report: cold chain Bangladesh alliance (CCBA)

Cold Chain Bangladesh Alliance (CCBA)  was a Global Development Alliance (GDA), USAID’s model for public-private partnerships. It served as a pilot project aiming to establish Bangladesh first integrated cold chain to reduce postharvest losses and deliver high-value agricultural products to market.

During the life of the project (July 1, 2013-June 30, 2016), CCBA actively increased farmers’ capacity to grow high value agricultural products; created and strengthened collection centers; supported GDA partner Golden Harvest to strengthen their cold chain; and promoted Good Agricultural Practices to ensure food safety. Lessons learned are highlighted in the report: producer groups are beneficial to the value chain; Market Planning Committees play a critical role in managing collection centers; costs and benefits of individual improved practices for harvesting and postharvest handling have a large impact on adoption; private sector partnerships with super shops open new doors for cold supply chains; high cost of refrigeration for vegetable traders affects the establishment of a cold chain and low cost vegetable cooling practices and logistics are effective; the business case for a vegetable cold chain is critical to its establishment; the inclusion of women and understanding gender dynamics is paramount to success; local service providers should be entrepreneurs.