$120m ADB loans for CHT rural communities

FE Report
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$120 million loans for improving basic services and climate resilience at rural communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh.
To this effect, a loan deal was signed on Wednesday in Dhaka between the ADB and the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
Sharifa Khan, Secretary, ERD, and Edimon Ginting, ADB Country Director for Bangladesh signed the agreement.
Under a project, the authorities will help improve village access roads, develop water supply sources and sanitation services, install rooftop solar systems, and establish agricultural facilities at three hilly districts including Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati, said a press release from the ADB.
The project will also improve about 140 kilometres of rural roads with all-weather standards incorporating nature-based, climate-resilient, and safety features.
The project implementing agencies will strengthen watershed management in nine sub-watersheds, to improve resilience to climate change and mitigate risks from natural hazards.
This will entail improving vegetation in watershed areas through agro-forestry, building small-scale water harvesting infrastructure, promoting income-generating activities from watershed protection, and training village forest committees in watershed management skills.
It will also support sustainable land use and climate-smart agricultural practices for food security as the farmers will be provided training and support to shift climate-resilient crop varieties and to diversify into high-value vegetables, fruits, spices, and medicinal plants.
The farmers will be given training, equipment, and linkages with experts and the private sector to help them process, market, and sell their products.
Under the project, the expected increase in the demand for skilled labour will be met by offering vocational and professional training courses such as carpentry, food processing, entrepreneurship, and community-based tourism and hospitality management.
ADB Country Director Edimon Ginting said the project is expected to increase cropping intensity by at least 50 per cent on at least 7,500 hectares of agricultural land; reduce by 50 per cent the average time taken for women from 57,000 households to fetch potable water; and reduce the average travel time along the project-supported roads by 50 per cent for buses, cars, and trucks compared with the baseline year of 2023 by the year 2031.
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