DT e-Paper, Friday, Decdember 2, 2016

Biz Info
19
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016
DT
| event |
Empowering youth and fostering economic opportunities
come from the poorest-ofthe-poor
families in the focus
districts. Over 90 percent
successfully completed their
training on their own cost, of
which 75 percent are already wage
employed or self-employed, and
47 percent are girls and young
women including Person with
Disability (PWDs).“Engaging and
empowering youth is important
to alleviate poverty, achieve
economic equity, and build the
foundations for a stable society,”
Hoogstraten added.
The vocational education and
training intervention is part of a
larger four year PROOFS project,
funded by the Embassy of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
and implemented by ICCO
Cooperation with Edukans,
iDE Bangladesh, BoP Inc. and
Bangladeshi partners. PROOFS is
designed to improve household
food and nutrition security,
feeding practices for women of
reproductive age, infants and
young children, WASH situation,
and vocational education and
training opportunities for
80,000 rural households at the
bottom of the pyramid. The
Vocational Education and Training
intervention worked with the
PROOFS’s Farm Business Groups,
where other interventions worked
simultaneously. The integrated
approach was designed to improve
the quality of life of all the target
80,000-farmer households, with
particular focus on food and
nutrition security. •
Today, the Embassy of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
and the Profitable Opportunities
for Food Security (PROOFS)
program commemorated its
two-year partnership with the
Government of Bangladesh,
contributing towards National
Skill Development Policy (NSDP),
and the private sector to train,
empower, and foster economic
opportunities for dropped out
adolescent youth in seven districts
of Bangladesh. This partnership,
since November 2014, has trained
on the job, and created jobs
for nearly 2,300 youth in the
informal sector, working with
and through 1,100 local traders/
businesses. This has expanded
small businesses, created safer
workspaces, contributed to
increased household incomes
leading to improved food and
nutrition security and reduced
child labour in at least 3,500
households.
In 2014, after widespread
reports of troubling workplace
safety and child labour incidents,
including the devastating Rana
Plaza collapse, the Embassy of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands
launched a Vocational Education
and Training intervention, as part
of the PROOFS program. Speaking
at the closing event, Martine-van
Hoogstraten, Deputy Ambassador
of the Embassy said, “The program
empowered over 3,500 adolescents
and traders with workplace safety
and labour compliance messaging,
networks, access to quality
vocational skills training and
jobs/self-employment, wage and
self employment and increased
incomes.”
The 2,300 apprentices trained
| welfare |
Bayer inaugurates ‘Krishi Seba Crop Clinics’ in Dhaka
Bayer CropScience Limited
Bangladesh, the local subsidiary
of Bayer AG with its headquarters
in Germany, introduced a unique
farm advisory service in Dhaka
on November 29, 2016. The new
initiative is named ‘Bayer Krishi
Seba’ (Crop Clinic). The first four
Bayer Crop Clinics will commence
operation in the districts of
Dinajpur, Mankiganj, Meherpur
and Bogra and will provide
farmers free technical advisory
and crop related advice.
Peter Mueller, Head of
Bayer APAC -2, Crop Science
Division, unveiled the new
initiative at Krishibid Institution
Bangladesh (KIB) auditorium
in Dhaka today along with the
Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Agriculture, Md Nazmul Islam
and the German Ambassador to
Bangladesh Dr Thomas Prinz.
The event was attended by over
100 farmers who assembled in
Dhaka from across the country.
Farmers and DAE officials from
Dinajpur, Mankiganj, Meherpur
and Bogra also participated via
a video conference. In view of
the upcoming Boro Season, the
Bayer team distributed onfarm
demonstration kits of ‘Arize Tej
Gold’ – Bayer’s Bacterial Leaf
Blight Tolerant Hybrid Rice variety
to the farmers.
Addressing the farmers, Peter
Mueller, Head of Bayer South
Asia, Crop Science Division,
said, “Farmers face a diverse set
of issues – be it unpredictable
weather, pest infestations, plant
diseases, increased resistances
or changing market trends. To
ensure a stable income, farmers
also need to produce high quality
crops. Bayer wants to help
farmers increase their agricultural
productivity and profitability.
The newly launched Krishi Seba
initiative aims to support farmers
in Bangladesh by giving timely
advisory tailored to local needs.”
The Bayer Krishi Seba (Crop
Clinic) is equipped with trained
farm advisors who can address
farmers’ queries, demonstrate new
farming technologies; conduct
live displays of pest symptoms,
hold training sessions and impart
knowledge on current trends
including market commodity
prices, weather/crop/disease/
pest management. Registered
farmers can also use the Bayer
Call Center service by calling or
sending an SMS. If a farmer wishes
to schedule a visit, Bayer advisors
can visit the farmer at his home/
farm.
Bayer aims to open 70 such
Crop Clinics within the first
quarter of 2017 in different cities
across Bangladesh. The advisory
service will extend to 150 Crop
Clinics by end of 2017. •