Bangladesh Country Investment Plan - Feed the Future

6 Priorities from
Consultation
Process (Brief
description of
activities)
B. Priority Interventions
Bangladesh has an elaborate system of social safety nets operated by 13 different
ministries and some NGOs covering various target groups. Some of these programmes
are food based, some are cash based, and some are both food and cash based. Some of
the major SSNs are food based and are provided to offer food security to the target
groups. An important problem that beset this programmes is mis-targeting, i.e.,
exclusion of eligible ones and inclusion of non-eligible ones. There are serious gaps in
coverage with some of the vulnerable groups insufficiently covered or not covered at
all, for example, the elderly and the urban poor. There is still scope for enhancing the
development impact of SSNs.
The prioritized interventions are as follows:
Strengthen institutional capacities
Institutional capacity development was emphasized as a key priority in order to
effectively operate SSN programmes, coordinate and streamline them; enhance impact
and targeting; and improve governance. Attempts should also be undertaken to improve
synergies between safety net programmes with productive infrastructure (food or cash
for work) such as for irrigation, rural transport and markets. Targeting effectiveness
needs to be improved to ensure that the benefits of the programmes reach the poorest
and the most food insecure.
Investment in employment and income generation of social safety nets
(including in ADP)
It was proposed to build on existing innovative SSNs in order to develop their scopes.
They are included in the ADP because they are considered as investment interventions.
They are aimed to contribute to income generation, income generation and
infrastructure development.
The prioritized activities are: Ensure access of vulnerable groups to food through safety
net card/program under a wider scale program (T). Expand VGD facilities for the fisher
of different char lands and conserve water bodies and biodiversity (M).
8 Main national
implementation
institutions
9 Main
international DPs
10 Main
implementation
challenges
C. Implementation Features
The national implementation institutions are Food Division, DWA, DMB, DRR,
Ministry of Social Welfare, universities, CSOs & private sector.
Collaboration among the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. Ministry of
Agriculture, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and the Ministry of Local
Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and Ministry of Women Affairs,
etc. is essential.
DPs like UNDP, WFP, EU, EKN and DFID are supporting the major investments
targeting employment generation, livelihoods development, vulnerable group
development, empowerment of the poorest, enhancing resilience, school feeding,
training and rehabilitation of destitute and orphan children, and disaster management.
A number of DPs have expressed interest in improving the governance of social safety
net programmes for improved effectiveness and efficiency of the safety nets systems in
the country.
The current challenge to achieving food security lies in implementing the Plan of
Action while the future challenge also lies in preparing an updated National Food
Policy and Plan of Action beyond 2015 and implementation of CIP.
The implementation challenges are effective coordination among different ministries
and line agencies. A good collaboration between various stakeholders is needed. It is
necessary to review issues related to scaling up of effective SSN programmes,
sustainability of programme benefits, and monitoring and evaluations of the
programmes to ensure that the benefits reach the largest proportion of food insecure in
the country. Cost effectiveness of means-tested versus geographic targeting for
different population segments/geographical locations need to be defined through
research & simulation
Note: The activities prioritized as Top (T), high (H) medium (M) and low (L).
Updated Bangladesh Country Investment Plan: A Road Map Towards investing in Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition
2 June 2011
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