Impact Assessment of BMMDP
Impact Assessment of
Bangladesh Micro-insurance Market Development Programme (BMMDP)
Bangladesh's economy is heavily reliant on agriculture, which is extremely susceptible to climate change. Extreme weather disasters (floods and cyclones) have wreaked havoc on agriculture productivity in Bangladesh, notably in the north and south. Despite the fact that agriculture only accounts for about 14% of GDP, it employs roughly 40% of the workforce (Bangladesh Economic Review 2019). As a result, extreme weather events not only imperil the economy but also the livelihoods of nearly half of the workforce. Farmers in Bangladesh confront significant challenges due to extreme weather conditions such as droughts, excessive rainfall, and floods, which result in crop losses, as well as limited access to financial services. As a result, farmers are selling their productive assets rather than investing in the high-quality inputs needed for successful farming. Swisscontact - Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation, has been awarded the BMMDP BMMDP(Bangladesh Micro-insurance Market Development Programme) ( by SDC) to address these challenges by developing a micro-insurance market for smallholder farmers by partnering with different market actors like insurance companies, commercial agro-input companies, farmers hub, government departments so that the appropriate financial and non-financial (extension) services can expand as risk mitigation measures to the farmers.
The BMMDP is being implemented by Syngenta Foundation, Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), Swisscontact (SC) in 38 districts. Syngenta Foundation is responsible for component 1(Crop Surokkha) in 10 districts Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Bogura, Nilphamari, Joypurhat, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Gaibandha, Pabna, Naogan). Component 2 (Livestock Surokkha) & Component 3- Capacity Building of Insurance Sector Stakeholders in Bangladesh are being implemented by Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), and its partner organizations (POs). Swisscontact (SC) is the technical lead of the project. The BMMDP aims to reach at least 633,000 farmers with financial and non-financial risk mitigation services and training, which will enable the farmers to improve their livelihoods through better productivity and resilience to natural disasters.
CRD has been appointed by Swisscontact to carry out an independent impact assessment in each of quarter against each of the components. CRD will be providing this support to SC until 30 November 2022.