BD farmers set to receive emergency livelihood support

Farmers of Bangladesh and seven other Asian and Sub-Sahara African countries--- Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine and Rwanda --- will receive emergency livelihood support under IFAD’s RPSF programme.

These initiatives by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are two of their 11 proposals to receive initial funding under IFAD’s Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF), according to a press release received on Monday.

RPSF funding comes as a result of a new partnership between IFAD and Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD), a global non-profit organisation co-founded by Nobel Prize winning economist Michael Kremer.

IFAD’s RPSF, which was launched recently by IFAD’s UN Goodwill Ambassadors, the actor and humanitarian Idris Elba and the model and activist Sabrina Dhowre Elba, aims to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 paFarmers of Bangladesh and seven other Asian and Sub-Sahara African countries--- Afghanistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine and Rwanda --- will receive emergency livelihood support under IFAD’s RPSF programme.

These initiatives by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are two of their 11 proposals to receive initial funding under IFAD’s Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF), according to a press release received on Monday.

RPSF funding comes as a result of a new partnership between IFAD and Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD), a global non-profit organisation co-founded by Nobel Prize winning economist Michael Kremer.

IFAD’s RPSF, which was launched recently by IFAD’s UN Goodwill Ambassadors, the actor and humanitarian Idris Elba and the model and activist Sabrina Dhowre Elba, aims to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods and food security of rural poor people.

Funding for these initiatives, amounting to US$11.2 million from the RPSF plus $5.2 million in co-financing mainly from governments and implementing partners, will benefit an estimated 6.7 million small-scale farmers in developing countries who are adversely impacted by the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the initiatives, one is to provide personalised agricultural advice through mobile phones to some 1.7 million small-scale farmers in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan to improve their incomes, food security and resilience to economic shocks caused by COVID-19.

Using mobile phone technology, farmers will receive low-cost, customised advice to improve on-farm practices, input utilisation, pest and disease management, environmental sustainability and access to markets.ndemic on the livelihoods and food security of rural poor people.

Funding for these initiatives, amounting to US$11.2 million from the RPSF plus $5.2 million in co-financing mainly from governments and implementing partners, will benefit an estimated 6.7 million small-scale farmers in developing countries who are adversely impacted by the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the initiatives, one is to provide personalised agricultural advice through mobile phones to some 1.7 million small-scale farmers in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan to improve their incomes, food security and resilience to economic shocks caused by COVID-19.

Using mobile phone technology, farmers will receive low-cost, customised advice to improve on-farm practices, input utilisation, pest and disease management, environmental sustainability and access to markets.