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Katalyst project benefits farmers

Star Business Report
As much as 47.50 lakh farmers of the country's remote areas have benefitted from a Katalyst project that promoted farming.
The project has been mainly focusing on the development of the market system over the last 15 years so that farmers can sell their products to retailers and get high-quality seeds.
Farmers have been trained under the project, which built a network between the farmers and retailers.
The project will end on March 31, generating $729 million in income for the farmers following its inception in 2003.
Katalyst shared the project's achievements with various stakeholders at the Radisson hotel in Dhaka yesterday. The daylong event comprised a knowledge dissemination session followed by a roundtable in partnership with The Daily Star.
Katalyst is the brand name for the Agri-Business for Trade Competitiveness Project (ATC-P) which facilitated farmers of more than 30 agriculture and service
sectors, including fish, vegetables, maize and information communication services, said GB Banjara, general manager of Katalyst.
He said the project played a strong role in expanding contract farming, popularising high yield
variety of fish and nationwide expansion of training for farmers and retailers.
More than 100 companies are now producing seeds, but the number was only five to six some 15 years ago, he said.
The project played a role in reducing poverty by raising the income of farmers, especially women, Banjara said.
He said the project's overall objective was to increase the income of financially insolvent
people in rural areas by working closely with public and private sector organisations, the media, academia and NGOs through an inclusive market systems development approach.Katalyst has been implemented by Swisscontact, a Switzerland-based NGO, under the auspices of the ministry of commerce throughout its three phases.
Attending as chief guest, Shubhashish Bose, secretary to the ministry, said Katalyst's activities were highly appreciated as it worked in the interest of the country. He urged Katalyst to come up with a new project as farmers have learnt a lot.
Rene Holenstein, Swiss ambassador to Bangladesh, said Katalyst's initiative of knowledge sharing was timely as its experience would help Bangladesh systematically develop the market system.
The current phase of Katalyst is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Danish International Development Agency.
Among others, Jane Edmondson, DFID country representative, and Manish Pandey, regional director of Swisscontact, addressed the event.