The World Bank – in order to meet the country’s growing demand for eggs, meat, and milk as well as to advance the nutritional intake of the country’s citizens – has approved $500 million to boost livestock and dairy production in Bangladesh.
The Livestock and Dairy Development Project aims to improve the country’s agricultural productivity and provide market access to two million smallholder farmers and different agro-entrepreneurs— according to a press release, issued by the Washington DC-based lending agency, on Sunday.
It elaborated that Bangladesh’s farmers will have better access to livestock services and practices by stimulating growth and improving livestock production systems, reports UNB.
Qimiao Fan, the World Bank country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, said: "By increasing livestock productivity, Bangladesh will be better-able to meet the food demands of its population."
"Livestock development also has the potential to create more – and better jobs – for women, youth, and the vulnerable in rural areas," he added.
Though the livestock sector employs only 14% of the total labor force, more than 70% of rural households are engaged in this sector.
Currently, women occupy 68% of the agricultural labor force and are mainly involved in livestock and poultry production.
Manievel Sene, the World Bank team leader for the Livestock and Dairy Development Project, said that impact of climate change on livestock production poses threats to livestock development. She added that rural households are highly exposed to risks associated with natural events and major outbreaks of disease.
In his words: “Mitigating risks by creating an enabling environment for livestock insurance will reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers as well as enhance productivity."
It is worth noting that nutrition shortages are rising as the annual production fails to meet consumption growth; young children, pregnant women, and new mothers are particularly vulnerable to these shortfalls.
It is anticipated that there will be annual shortages of 1.5 billion eggs, 0.5 million tons of meat, and more than 5.9 million tons of milk by 2021.
At least two million people will be provided food safety information through training, mobile applications, and other multimedia tools through the aforementioned project.
