Progress ReportProgress Report - Jobstrust

Progress ReportOctober 2006 – March 2007Submitted byJOBS-IRIS BangladeshRoad # 6A, Plot # 3, Block - JBaridhara, Dhaka – 1212Tel: 880-2-8829037, 9895218Fax: 880-2-8826154Email: info@jobsiris.dhaka-bd.net

Nodi O Jibon ProjectPROGRESS REPORTOctober 2006 -March 20071.0 Note from the desk of the Country Representative2.0 Highlights of JOBS Activities(Oct. 2006 – March 2007)Over the past two quarters, JOBS has worked veryclosely with the private sector and the Nodi o Jibonpartner NGOs to implement its market linkage activitiesin the targeted char areas. Following the sub-sectoranalysis conducted by JOBS in late 2006, severalinterventions have been identified in different sectorsthroughout the project area which are currently beingimplemented.Despite certain periods of political instabilitythroughout the country, JOBS has remained productivethroughout the reporting period and has investedsubstantial time and effort to contribute to the economyof the targeted Nodi o Jibon beneficiaries.Interventions in both the livestock and agriculturesectors are currently underway and several clustersamong the char-based households have beendeveloped. In the livestock sector, JOBS has teamedup with Bengal Meat Ltd. to design a short term pilotproject where selected households are taking part in acow fattening and subsequent market linkage programthat will ultimately generate a monthly income for them.In the agriculture sector, JOBS has joined forces withEnergypac Agro Ltd to implement a pilot program thataims to increase the quality and yield of various cashcrops produced by the char dwellers. Energypac Agrois a producer and supplier of different types of crops toboth local and foreign consumers. In partnership withEnergypac Agro, JOBS plans to launch a contractfarming program with selected Nodi o Jibonhouseholds in the Lalmonirhat chars. This particularinitiative has the potential to provide the targeted chardwellers with new technology that will increase thequality and yield of their produce and subsequentlycreate a marked increase in their incomes.As sector specialists, we believe that interventions thataim to improve the livelihoods of the poorest achievethe most success when implemented in directcoordination with the private sector. As JOBS’ incomegeneration activities in the chars continue, we lookforward to seeing significant improvement in thelivelihoods of all participating Nodi o Jibon projectbeneficiaries.A. Imran ShauketCountry RepresentativeOver the past two quarters, JOBS has been activelyinvolved in identifying lead enterprises operating in themainland that demonstrate a sincere desire to establishmarket linkages with selected households in the charlands. JOBS’ primary goal of working with the privatesector in its initiatives is to provide the char dwellers withnot only an ensured market for their products, but also tosecure various technical and financial services for themthat are not available from any governmental or nongovernmental program. Over the last reporting period,JOBS has accomplished this objective in both thelivestock and agriculture sectors. In the livestock sector,a cow-fattening program is now running with theassistance of Bengal Meat and the Nodi o Jibon partnerNGOs. The char dwellers have received technical trainingon cattle fattening and cow shed construction. They’vealso received the first round of subsidized medicines andvaccines for their cows. To ensure thorough monitoringand evaluation, representatives of JOBS, Bengal Meatand the Pabna-based PNGOs have been visiting theclusters intermittently to solve technical problems andanswer all questions raised by the households.Over the past two quarters, JOBS, Bengal Meat and thePabna-based PNGOs have worked jointly to accomplishthe following: JOBS and its partners have;-Gathered advice and technical direction frominstitutions that have successfully demonstrated theCow Fattening program in other areas;-Finalized the implementation strategy for the CowFattening pilot project in collaboration with the Nodio Jibon partner NGOs and the private sector;-Managed to secure an alternative source offinancing for the pilot project;-Developed three producer groups/ clusters,comprising of 15 households that are willing toparticipate in the Cow Fattening program; and,-Negotiated with private sector enterprises toprovide technical assistance to the selectedhouseholds.PG-01

Nodi O Jibon ProjectPROGRESS REPORTOctober 2006 -March 2007In the agriculture sector, JOBS has been working closelywith Energypac Agro Ltd. to assess the feasibility offorming contract farming1 relationships with certainselected households in the Hatibandha chars ofLalmonirhat. Recently, JOBS and Energypac traveled toseveral potential chars together and held Focus GroupDiscussions with selected households to gain anunderstanding of the current market scenario andfarming trends among the community. Energypac alsoconducted soil analyses to measure the potential forintroducing different varieties of high-yield cash crops.inappropriate beneficiaries for the pilot project and thepostponed collection of pertinent baseline informationcreated a cloud of confusion among both the privatesector and the project beneficiaries.Pilot Project: Cow FatteningRepresentatives of JOBS, Concern, BOSS, JSKS and UDPS atthe MoU signing event to launch the first phase of the cowfattening pilot project in Pabna.Representatives of Energypac Agro Ltd. and JOBS conducting a cost/benefitanalysis on maize production in Poschim Holdibari char, LalmonirhatJOBS, in collaboration with the partner organizations ofthe Nodi O Jibon project and Concern Bangladesh, hasdeveloped a pilot project that links selected, Pabnabased, Nodi o Jibon project clients with Bengal Meat, alarge scale meat processing facility in Shathia upazilla,Pabna. This linkage will serve to increase the incomes ofthe targeted households and to create new, sustainableemployment.The length of the pilot project is for one year and is beingimplemented collaboratively by JOBS, Bengal Meat andthe relevant Nodi o Jibon partner NGOs.A boy feeding a recently purchased cow in Akbakshoha—oneof the Pabna-based chars participating in the pilot projectDespite these successes, however, the projectexperienced a critical and unavoidable delay during thereporting period. The recent political situation and certainfinancial constraints among JOBS’ implementing partnershad driven back the JOBS agenda. Because of the lowfinancial capacity of its partners, JOBS was obliged toleverage credit assistance for the clients from a differentsource, which caused JOBS to lose precious time inorder to put together a new innovative approach toproject implementation. Additionally, the selection of1 Contract farming refers to a contractual agreement between a farmer or farmergroup and a buyer where the buyer adds value to the raw commodity in some way(Processing, storage, seed distribution, etc.) in order to ensure product quality andthe commitment of the farmer or farmer group to the buyer.The pilot can be described as an NGO-led approach thatwill demonstrate the effectiveness of using the Nodi oJibon partner organizations as the primary technical andfinancial facilitators of the producer groups/clusters. Thisapproach will not only test how the pre-existingrelationship between the partners and their clientsbenefits the project, but will also help identify theconstraints and opportunities associated with extendingmicro finance to the targeted chars. Minimizing logisticalrisks and maximizing effective communication betweenthe clusters and their lead buyer are key elements to thesuccess of the pilot. If successfully implemented, thispilot may lead towards an increase in direct privatesector involvement/investment in the char islands.“This pilot initiative will create amarked increase in the incomes of thetargeted households and create new,sustainable employment.”PG-02

Nodi O Jibon ProjectPROGRESS REPORTOctober 2006 -March 2007Participatig stakeholders Roles and ResponsibilitiesRepresentatives of JOBS and UDPS conducting a survey ofpotential households for the pilot project in Dhalarchar, PabnaHousehold Selection:In preparing to implement the pilot, JOBS worked closelywith its partner NGOs and Bengal Meat to finalize theselection of households in each of the three targetedchars. The following criteria were followed in the initialselection of each household:-Each household demonstrates a significant need forincreased household income;-Each household demonstrates the manpowercapacity to rear three cows;-Each household can manage sufficient space toconstruct both night and day sheds for the cows;-Each household demonstrates motivation and awillingness to participate in the project;collaboration with Concern, the partner NGOs and BengalMeat to;-Organize the selected households into threeseparate production clusters that will train and worktogether to fatten locally procured cattle;-Raise the awareness of the selected householdsabout the potential benefits of the project;-Organize and deliver intensive technical skilldevelopment training to the households in order toraise the quality of their cattle to the standards ofBengal Meat;-Develop the resources of the Nodi o Jibon partnerorganizations to ensure that continued advisory,counseling and financial services are provided tothe producer groups throughout the pilot projectperiod; and,-Prepare training curricula and materials for thedelivery of Basic Business Management training inthe field.The ultimate goals of this pilot project are to increase thelevel of investment of the private sector and local donoragencies and to increase access to micro finance andgovernment services throughout the selected chars.Representatives of JOBS, Bengal Meat and UDPS conductingand awareness raising session with members of the selectedhouseholds in Dhalarchar, Pabna.Market Development effort:A group meeting with the Akbakshoha char cluster, facilitatedby JOBS, Bengal Meat and JSKS.Cluster Formation and Awareness Raising:Once the households were selected, JOBS worked inDuring the reporting period, JOBS has investedsubstantial time and effort to identify and create newmarkets for the products available in the chars. Inaddition to the several potential private sector partnersthat JOBS identified during its initial period of sectoridentification, several others have been identified.Among them, Energypac Agro Ltd. is one that hasparticular potential for partnership. Energypac Agro is aprocessor/supplier of various crops to local and foreignmarkets. They have expressed an interest to work withJOBS in raising the quality and yield of various cashPG-03