Together with DAE and Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture, Solidaridad facilitated a framework for the "National Action Plan for Pest Free and Safe Mango Production for Domestic Consumption and Export". The action plan outlined the production and post-harvest management practices to produce high quality and safe mangoes to comply with national and international market standards. Contract farming forms a mandatory component in the action plan for the production and marketing of safe mango.
Connecting mango farmers with fast-moving markets
Solidaridad facilitated contract farming with 220 mango farmers to produce safe and quality mango to supply to the domestic and international market. The contract farming and the process maintained for the production of safe mango has satisfied the EU food control authority, resulting in approval for exporting mangoes from Bangladesh to the EU countries.
As of June 2017, 30 metric tonnes of mangoes have been shipped to EU countries like Italy, Sweden, Germany and France. An additional 100 metric tonnes of mangoes were supplied to the national retail chains. It is expected this year around 200 metric tonnes of pest free and safe mango from Satkhira will be traded to the EU countries and the national market through contract farming.
On track to becoming leader in fruit and vegetables
Globally, Bangladesh ranks 3rd in terms of production of vegetables and 8th in mango. However, the country has been unable to tap the potential of the fruits and vegetables productivity gains due to poor adoption of sustainable technologies and inadequate market infrastructure and facilities.
The market size for mangoes in Bangladesh is close to $1 billion a year, but the market players are unable to respond to the growing opportunities. The productivity and the competitiveness of Bangladeshi fruits and vegetables could be achieved through value addition in terms of:
- sustainable practices
- contract farming
- packaging and labelling
- market linkages with national and international markets
Solidaridad brings all stakeholders together
Solidaridad in Bangladesh is undertaking a systematic approach to transform sustainable growth of agriculture through multi-stakeholder partnerships and cooperation among the players operating in the supply chain – from producers to consumers. Solidaridad is developing robust farmer and business support structures for the adoption of good practices, market and finance including policy influencing activities to frame a national plan of actions for increasing productivity in a sustainable manner.
SaFaL makes significant progress
These goals are integrated into the long-running Sustainable Agriculture, Food Security and Linkages (SaFaL) project of Solidaridad supported by the Dutch embassy in Bangladesh. Through public and private partnerships, Solidaridad is developing business models for inclusive supply chain for production and market promotion of agricultural commodities. SaFaL has reached 58,492 farmers to trigger and facilitate ecosystem-based economic development, making farmers better agricultural entrepreneurs.
Solidaridad is hopeful that the National Plan endorsed by the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture would be adopted by the farmers and the businesses, which will create new windows of opportunity for production and market promotion of safe mango for the domestic and export market.
Learn more about Solidaridad sustainability programmes in South and South-East Asia