Prepared by Harvey Demaine, DanidaAdvisor

Project Location: 20 Upazilas of Greater
Noakhali (Noakhali-9,
Feni-6 & Lakshmipur-5)
& Mirsarai, Sandwip and
Fatikchari Upazilas from
Chittagong District
Project Period: 6.75 Years
October 1, 2006 to
June 30, 2013)
Project cost: DPP RDPP-II
Total : 771 million BDT 985 million
DANIDA : 700 million BDT 881 million
GOB : 71 million BDT 104 million
Project Summary

Objectives and Outputs
• Immediate Objective:
– Improved and sustainable productivity of and returns from
fisheries and livestock systems of resource-poor
households
[As we shall see, over the last two years there
has been a shift from a focus on productivity
to returns]

Outputs
• 1. Effective support to resource poor households through
decentralized, integrated and demand-driven extension
provision (through Farmer Field School approach)
• 2. CBOs and Farmers Associations formed and enabled to
articulate their demands to local private and public service
providers
• 3. Linkages with the private sector improved to enable
farmers to access quality inputs and markets
• 4. Local government institutions enabled to address the
expressed demands of the local community in relation to
fisheries and livestock development
• 5. Capacity of District and Upazila level offices of DOF and
DLS to deliver public goods enhanced

Development of CBOs in RFLDC
• Emergence of CBOs in the improved extension
strategy dates from Greater Noakhali Aquaculture
Extension Project (GNAEP) in 2003
• Initially Resource Learning Centers to maintain flow
of information on aquaculture technology to farmers
• Quickly realized these were unsustainable; widened
to supply of quality and timely agricultural inputs
which offered an income stream
• Commission from sales of prawn post-larvae and
profits from feed

Core Element in Sustainable Extension Strategy
• Actually emergence of CBOs were seen as the core
element in an alternative and sustainable extension
strategy
• GNAEP had sought to promote aquaculture through
contracting NGOs for training and credit
• Identified that NGOs did not address the poor (rather the
more credit-worthy) and were dependent on provision of
Project operational costs
• Tendency to downscale or disappear at the end of the
Project (‘sunset project’)
• Capacity-building of farmers’ own organizations seen as
more sustainable

Improved Livelihoods of Resource- poor Farmers
(through increased productivity of and returns from fisheries and livestock systems)
Farmer Field Schools (demand-
driven extension)
Service- provision through
Community-based Organizations
Technical Support and Quality
Input Supply through Upazila
Fisheries and Livestock Offices
Supply of Quality Inputs and Market
Opportunities through (mainly local)
Private Agribusiness
Socio-political Support
and Financial Resources
from Union Parishad via
Block Grant
RFLDC Technical Assistance Team
Figure 1: Original RFLDC Extension Model

CBOs’ Typical Services
• Provision of seed and young stock (fish, prawn, fry/PL,
fingerlings/juveniles; DOC, DOD / ducklings, Kids,
Lambs)
• Breeding services (bucks/bulls, artificial insemination)
• Vaccination services (through Poultry Workers and
Community Livestock Workers)
• Feed provision (concentrates, local feed ingredients,
fodder cuttings)
• Facilities for Hire (pumps, nets)
• Support to Community-based (Dogi) Aquaculture
• Bulking of produce for collective marketing
• Production credit via Block Grant

Figure 2: Distribution of Services Provided by CBOs (up to end
2012)

Development of CBOs is Painstaking
• Organizational Capacity Building
– Regular (Biennial) Elections to Executive Committees
– Regular Annual General and Planning Meetings attended by high
percentage of general members
– Annual Development Plans, increasingly based upon own resources
– Steady improvement in Financial Management, as demonstrated by
positive FAPAD and EOD Audit reports
– Building cadre skilled in Financial Management through Participatory
Learning Approach (Resource Persons Accounting)
• Movement towards Sustainability
– Increasing membership, especially of women members of FFS, mainly
related to produce marketing
– Increasing annual earnings supporting own staff, based upon widening of
activities from input supply to marketing
– Development of Human Rights Committees
– Strong linkages between grass-roots level CBOs and 7 District CBO
Associations

Outstanding Features of CBOs
• Several CBOs run exclusively by women
• Support to community aquaculture development in about 130 dogis
and over 100 settlement villages, including women prawn PL
nursers;
• Provision of livestock vaccination services through network of
Poultry Workers, Community Livestock Workers and Livestock
Service Centres;
• Development of major net-making industry in Lakshmipur District
involving over 2,000 landless women;
• Development of CBO network in Chittagong Hills, marketing local
produce through Feni CBO Association (recent purchase of truck);
• Marketing Networks with local branding (Khamar in Lakshmipur,
Polli in Feni)

From Input Supply to Marketing
• Initial focus of CBO (IG) activities was input supply and
services (like Vaccination)
• From 2010, RFLDC realization that farmers engaged in FFS
were beginning to increase production to the degree that
many were beginning to consider marketing surplus
• Started to change curriculum towards Integrated Farm
Management FFS with greater market orientation
• Perceived that CBOs could also assist in produce marketing
which could widen their income generation and therefore
increase their sustainability
• Also addressed problem of strengthening links between FF
and CBOs
• Development of strategy of Producer and Marketing Groups

Farmer Field School
Learning Process (Artificial
Study Plot)
Field Laboratories
(Informal Research)
ASPS II Adaptive Research,
BAU,CVASU, BLRI, NGOs
Producer and
Marketing
Group
Community-
based
Organizations
Local Private
Agribusiness
CBO
Associations
and
Advanced
CBOs
Regional,
National and
International
Market Actors
Inputs / Markets
Finance (Contract
Farming)
Inputs, Services, Production
Credit in Kind (via Block Grant?);
Market Identification and
Produce Collection
Research Co-
operation (On-
Farm Trials)
FFS Members focusing on
consumption
Access to Quality
Input Supplies and
Markets of Fresh
and Processed
Produce
CBOs complement
Local Agribusiness
to Distribute
Inputs and Collect
Products
Local
Facilitators
and Resource
Persons
Winrock /
Katalyst
iDE
Figure 3: RFLDC Revised Strategic Framework

CBO
Associations
Community-based Organizations
Producer and Marketing Groups
Local Agents
Resource Persons,
including as Trainers
Core
Producers
Figure 4: Relationships in the Market Chain

Capacity Building of CBOs as Agribusiness
• Over the past two years, RFLDC has tried to build capacity of
CBOs as small agribusiness
– Training of CBO Executive Committee members under Bangladesh
Agribusiness Development Project (BADP)
• Training of RFLDC’s own TA staff in Agribusiness Development
by Innovision (Markets for the Poor (M4P) Approach)
• RFLDC trying to promote Business Plans in CBOs
• Review of Process of PMG (Lot of emphasis in 2011)
• Searching for links to national and regional markets but
needed support
• Search since late 2011 for a partner to deepen market
orientation; now working with International Development
Enterprises to Deepen Market Integration

Identification of Commodities (Value Chains)
• Maybe three possible origins:
– From FFS focus: fish, prawn, fingerlings/juveniles, eggs,
ducks, pullets, milk and milk products, vegetables (gourds,
pumpkins, etc), possibly soya bean, peanut, okra
– From Field Laboratory (specific programme in hills): sugar
cane, musk melon
– Traditional local commodities (not part of FFS/FL process,
but based upon local skills): coconut products, date palm
juice, turmeric, ginger, country bean seed, brooms, nets,
topi, mats

Phasing Out of RFLDC
• For various reasons, Danida has decided to change its strategy of support to
the Agricultural Sector in BangladeshThis involves a phasing out of RFLDC at
end June 2013
• Disappointed, but confident that network of CBO (Farmers’ Organizations) in
the region will facilitate continuing service development to resource-poor
farmers, especially in input supply and marketing
• However, we want to ensure that GOB and non-government (including private
sector) service providers are aware of the CBO Network in each District so
that they can use it as a resource for extension activities in whatever sector
• Hopefully mutually beneficial, wider contacts will also benefit the CBO
network.
• Only two days ago, we were discussing in the hills how the CBO network,
established mainly for extension purposes might be used for education, family
planning and water and sanitation services
• This workshop called for this region and as you will see we have also prepared
documentation which will help to facilitate contacts in the form of CBO Profile
Books

Outputs
• 1. Effective support to resource poor households through
decentralized, integrated and demand-driven extension
provision (through Farmer Field School approach)
• 2. CBOs and Farmers Associations formed and enabled to
articulate their demands to local private and public service
providers
• 3. Linkages with the private sector improved to enable
farmers to access quality inputs and markets
• 4. Local government institutions enabled to address the
expressed demands of the local community in relation to
fisheries and livestock development
• 5. Capacity of District and Upazila level offices of DOF and
DLS to deliver public goods enhanced