The country’s only 17 per cent of smallholder farmers have access to loan services in both specialised and commercial banks, according to a FAO survey on Tuesday.
The loan disbursement by state-run specialised banks and organisations, including Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB), Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and Rural Development Board (BRDB), is among marginal farmers is much lower -- only 7.19 per cent, the study conducted by the Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of UN (FAO) revealed.
The MMI project is aimed at empowering farmer organisations (FOs) so that the FOs can provide their members with access to value chains, markets, technical knowledge and financing.
The survey was revealed at a workshop titled ‘Financial Inclusion of Smallholder Farmers’, held at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Auditorium in the city, organised jointly by the MMI Bangladesh and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The research showed that only 1.0, 1.0 and 2.0 per cent small scale female farmers got loans respectively from the state-run RKB, BKB and BRDB.
Even less than 10 per cent of marginal male farmers got loans from three banks specified for agricultural development of the country.
Agriculture secretary Md Nasiruzzaman spoke as the chief guest of the programme while director general (in-charge) of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) chaired the opening session.
Coordinator of implementation support unit of MMI Bangladesh, FAO Dr Imanun Nabi Khan presented a synopsis of the survey.
The base-line survey was conducted at 788 households under 142 villages in 16 districts in the country.
The Survey also said 85 per cent of the country’s farmers are marginal, with each of them owning less than 0.42 acres of land.
