Rahimafrooz, Solidaridad team up in agri sector

Rahimafrooz CIC Agro Limited has joined hands with the Solidaridad Network Asia aiming to strengthen the agro-input supply and productivity of smallholders in the southwestern region of the country.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed Sunday to this effect between the two parties at the head office of the Rahimafrooz CIC Agro in the capital.
Haider Jahan Khan, head of seed and planting materials of the CIC Agro, and Selim Reza Hasan, country manager of the Solidaridad Network Asia, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides.
Sunith Subawickrama, CEO of Rahimafrooz CIC Agro, ATM Nur Alam Khan, head of plant nutrition management, Md Adnan, head of human resources of the CIC Agro, Indu Bhushan Roy, coordinator of the Sustainable Agriculture, Food Security and Linkages (SaFaL) programme being implemented by the Solidaridad, and Moziball Hoque of the Solidaridad, among others, were present on the occasion.
Under the agreement, both the sides will work jointly in the country's agriculture sector aiming to ensure sustainable food production.
According to the MoU, they will also work together to establish a well-functioning seed distribution system across the country and introduce new agriculture technologies.
Mr Subawickrama said still the majority of the country's farmers were using traditional farming methods costing the quality of production and quantity as well.
Introducing quality seed, fertiliser, planting materials and modern technologies could increase the production and income, he added.
Terming the partnership agreement as a historic event, Mr Subawickrama also expressed his desire to extend the joint collaboration further in the agricultural sector.
SaFaL programme coordinator Roy said under the partnership they would arrange demo farming with the products of the 'TARA' brand of CIC Agro Limited.
He noted that they had a total of 57,000 motivated farmers organised in 1,000 producer groups and 500 trained lead farmers across the country.
"Rahimafrooz could utilise the strong platform to demonstrate their related technologies and products", the representative from the Solidaridad network said. The Trained Lead Farmers could also work as their agents in the respective community.
In addition, SaFaL programme beneficiaries would also benefit by getting quality inputs and technical support from the Rahimafrooz, he noted.
Selim Reza Hasan said farmers sometimes use more fertiliser, seed or pesticide in their farm which not only increases their production cost, but also leads to low production.
"We need to work together to build capacity of the farmers, especially in farm management, to ensure quality of their products and the expected quantity", he noted.
Solidaridad is working to develop an inclusive supply chain for agricultural productivity which will increase availability, accessibility and affordability of safe food. With the support from the Netherlands, Solidaridad Network Asia is implementing the SaFaL programme to improve livelihood of 50,000 small farm households.