WB to dispense $210m loan for modern food storage

The World Bank (WB) will provide Bangladesh with US$ 210 million support for developing a modern food storage system capable of feeding 10 million people.
The support will be available for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project, under which steel silos will be built with a storage capacity for 535,500 tonnes of rice and wheat and also help distribute smaller domestic silos to 500,000 households in disaster-prone coastal areas.
The government and the International Development Association (IDA), the WB arm that offers assistance to the world's poorest countries, signed the financing agreement Monday in this connection, said a WB press release.
Additional Secretary of the External Relations Division (ERD) Arastoo Khan and Acting WB Country Head in Bangladesh Christine Kimes signed the deal in the city, it said.
"Bangladesh faces floods and cyclones almost every three years and climate change could increase the frequency and intensity of these extreme-weather events," the WB release quoted Christine Kimes as saying.
"This modern food storage system, combined with an effective distribution system, will help to ensure food security immediately after a natural disaster. The project will reduce the vulnerability of people living in natural disaster-prone areas and help Bangladesh build a stock of food to meet emergencies," said the WB country representative in Bangladesh.
The proposed modern steel silos will be able to store food grains for up to three years while retaining the nutritional quality of the rice through computerised control of humidity and temperature, according to the WB.
The flat-bottomed steel silos can be constructed quickly and occupy much less space than conventional concrete warehousing. In comparison, traditional concrete warehousing can store grains only up to a maximum of one year, it mentioned.
The project will also provide domestic silos for grain and seed to around 500,000 households in flood and cyclone-prone coastal areas to ensure food security during and after natural disasters.
Manufactured in Bangladesh, these household-level silos, or grain storage bins, are specially designed 70-litre, food-grade plastic bins with a watertight lid that prevents water intrusion from surges and floods, it said, adding that the bins can hold about 40 kg of paddy.
"The steel rice and wheat silos would offer enhanced shelf life of rice and wheat from 7 months to 3 years. This would protect the government from having to replenish rice and wheat stock every 7 months with huge cost. The government would have greater maneuverability in management and distribution of cereal stock," said the WB release quoting Mr Arastoo Khan.
The project will also support the improvement and modernisation of the monitoring and management system of food stocks in the country, as well as the development of a food policy research programme, and provide project management support, supervision and technical assistance and training, according to the WB release.
The credit from IDA has a 40-year term, including a 10-year grace period, and carries a service charge of 0.75 per cent, it mentioned.