DHAKA, March 20, 2019 (BSS) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday
signed a $14.2 million loan agreement to support the expansion plans of
Sylvan Agriculture Limited (SAL), a sister concern of PRAN-RFL Group (PRAN)
company, to enhance inclusive agribusiness by lifting incomes and skills of
farmers particularly women in Bangladesh.
PRAN is one of the largest food and agribusiness companies in Bangladesh.
ADB’s assistance will finance new food processing facilities to produce
potato chips, potato flakes, and pasta, said an ADB press release today.
PRAN-RFL Group Director (Finance) Uzma Chowdhury and Deputy Director
General of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department Christopher Thieme
signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
Under a gender action plan, womenfolk will comprise at least half of the
450 people directly employed in the new facilities. Gender wage gaps will be
reduced, women’s facilities introduced, and greater technological assistance
provided to women farmers.
“Agriculture plays a key role in Bangladesh’s economy and development,
providing nearly half of all employment in the country and supporting over
70% of the total population,” said ADB Investment Specialist for Private
Sector Operations Tushna Dora.
“ADB’s second loan to SAL will further improve the agribusiness sector in
Bangladesh through increased private sector investment. It will enhance the
livelihoods of thousands of local farmers, with a focus on empowering women
to gain new skills that can be used to earn better incomes,” she added.
Potatoes for the new processing facilities, located in Habiganj industrial
park in the northeastern part of Bangladesh, will be sourced from around
2,000 contract farmers, integrating them in a sustainable agricultural value
chain, the release said.
The project is expected to increase contract farmers’ income by at least 50
percent as they introduce new potato varieties, expand the area they
cultivate, and benefit from the assurance that their production will be
bought by SAL.
The project is ADB’s first repeat assistance to a private sector borrower
in agribusiness. In 2012, ADB approved a $25.1 million loan to SAL for the
construction of processing facilities, including for liquid glucose and
starch made from cassava sourced from contract farmers.
PRAN produces more than 200 food products under 10 different categories
including juices, mineral water, carbonated beverages, bakery products,
snacks, biscuits, confectionary, and dairy products. It is one of
Bangladesh’s largest private employers, with around 95,000 staffs.
In addition, the group has engaged with more than 100,000 contract farmers
across various crops.