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Bangladesh
>> Regional Overview >> Bangladesh Overview Program Data Sheet
388-008
USAID MISSION: Bangladesh
PROGRAM TITLE: Food Security and Disaster Management (Pillar: Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance)
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE AND NUMBER: Improved Food Security for Vulnerable Groups, 388-008
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $3,700,000 DA; $1,500,000 ESF
UNOBLIGATED PRIOR YEAR FUNDS AND FUNDING SOURCE: $1,118,611 DA
PROPOSED FY 2003 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $2,600,000 DA; $1,500,000 ESF
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 2000 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2006Summary: USAID’s program to improve food security for vulnerable groups and to mitigate effects of disaster, funded by DA, ESF and Title II resources, includes—
- technical assistance to improve food security policy;
- technical assistance and training to construct environmentally-sound infrastructure;
- training and technical assistance to enhance disaster preparedness; and
- technical assistance to increase diversity in agriculture production.
Beneficiaries include the rural and urban poor, especially vulnerable children and women.
Inputs, Outputs, and Activities: FY 2002 Program: USAID will use P.L. 480 and bilateral DA resources to achieve dual purposes in food security and disaster mitigation. Humanitarian and development activities will improve food security of the most vulnerable, particularly women and children. Food security policy assistance will encourage the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) to adopt measures to target the most needy. Research and training to promote agricultural diversification will help reduce vulnerability to major crop failure.
USAID will use FY 2002 resources to implement three major program activities: environmentally sound community infrastructure, disaster management, and diversification of agricultural production. Community infrastructure improvements will include low cost, hard surface, farm-to-market roads, earthen village roads, water and sanitation, school rehabilitation, and urban slum rehabilitation. Disaster management activities will strengthen community-level disaster preparedness and response/mitigation mechanisms, such as building multi-purpose community flood and cyclone shelters and water and sanitation facilities, and include USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)-supported flood forecasting and urban disaster mitigation efforts. Agricultural diversification efforts will emphasize training in wheat and maize research, promoting improved technologies and training farm families, and facilitating farm mechanization. ESF and DA funds will support impact studies of arsenic contamination, including plant health and agricultural sustainability, food chain uptake and food safety issues, and new deep aquifer mapping.
Planned FY 2003 Program: USAID plans to use the FY 2003 Title II-generated local currency proceeds and DA resources to continue and expand activities in sustainable community infrastructure, disaster management and agricultural diversification. USAID intends to provide technical assistance to support the GOB’s new "Comprehensive Food Security Policy." USAID will assist the GOB to identify and implement more appropriate access-to-food and nutrition-focused policies and programs. ESF-funded arsenic research and mitigation will continue for an additional year.
SUBMISSION OF THIS PROGRAM DATA SHEET CONSTITUTES FORMAL RENOTIFICATION OF USAID'S INTENT TO OBLIGATE FY 2002 RESOURCES FOR THE ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED ABOVE. Performance and Results: The GOB has redirected its large Public Food Distribution System (PFDS) away from mass distribution in favor of a targeted food "safety net" program for the poor. The GOB is now committed to maintain a standard whereby 85% of PFDS food is directed to the poor and vulnerable. The PFDS has also been reoriented from entirely public sector administration to allow the private sector to play a key food security role that enhances the GOB’s ability to deal with adverse food situations. Private foodgrain imports now constitute 100% of total commercial imports and the result has been a savings of about $185 million in government expenditures.
During fiscal years 2000 and 2001, CARE managed Title II programs that constructed 582 kilometers of farm-to-market, low-cost, hard-surface roads. In FY 2001, the World Vision Title II program rehabilitated 141 km of earthen village roads. Title II programs combined created 3.3 million person-days of seasonal employment. During fiscal years (FYs) 2000 and 2001, over 900,000 trees were planted alongside the roads, helping to save the road slope from erosion and providing over 50,000 person-months of employment for destitute women tree caretakers. Better roads help reduce transport cost, create jobs, and improve access to markets and services. Title II programs also contribute to healthy sanitation and provision of safe drinking water. During FYs 2000 and 2001, 17,383 sanitary latrines and 5,616 arsenic-free drinking water facilities were constructed. Title II activities are also helping local governments acquire the capacity to plan and implement small local development projects in open and transparent ways.
Under the community-based disaster management component of USAID's program, contingency plans seek to ensure that 19 million vulnerable people in 190 high disaster prone areas have access to emergency relief supplies within 72 hours of a disaster. During FYs 2000 and 2001, 50,106 persons were trained in community-based disaster management practices, 30% of whom were women. In the same period, the Flood Proofing program covered nearly 125,000 people in 195 villages and built multi-purpose community flood shelters, developed social/community places, and provided water and sanitation facilities which help reduce property damage, lower incidence of diarrhea, and increase access to potable water during floods. Nearly half of the beneficiaries of the flood proofing activities are women. USAID will continue its leadership role in humanitarian assistance, working with CARE, World Vision, and USAID/OFDA, as they enhance their community-based disaster management efforts.
USAID’s support through FY 2006 will consolidate the improvements made in the GOB’s food security policy in targeting the most vulnerable and promoting agricultural diversification. USAID’s NGO partners will be effective in building local capacity in disaster mitigation and relief so that suffering and loss will be minimized at the same time as local villagers and poor women benefit from participation in local humanitarian and development activities. The GOB will be provided with more accurate information about arsenic and about options to mitigate its adverse effects.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAID activities are conducted in partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT – prime); Cornell and Texas A&M Universities (subs); CARE; World Vision; Helen Keller, International; and local non-governmental organizations.
US Financing in Thousands of Dollars
388-008 Improved Food Security for Vulnerable Groups CSD DA ESF Through September 30, 2000 Obligations 100 5,980 0 Expenditures 100 2,555 0 Unliquidated 0 3,425 0 Fiscal Year 2001 Obligations 0 1,931 0 Expenditures 0 2,115 0 Through September 30, 2001 Obligations 100 7,911 0 Expenditures 100 4,670 0 Unliquidated 0 3,241 0 Prior Year Unobligated Funds Obligations 0 1,119 0 Planned Fiscal Year 2002 NOA Obligations 0 3,700 1,500 Total Planned Fiscal Year 2002 Obligations 0 4,819 1,500 Proposed Fiscal Year 2003 NOA Obligations 0 2,600 1,500 Future Obligations 0 450 0 Est. Total Cost 100 15,780 3,000
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
