PKSF

MFMSF was launched by PKSF with the financial assistance of IFAD in July 2005 to deliver financial and technical services to the farming community especially, the small and marginal farmers, through its 25 POs. PKSF and IFAD designed the project to develop an effective institutional approach for the delivery of agricultural credit to the farming community. The project covers 113 Upazillas of 14 districts in northwestern and north- central parts of the country. The modality of microcredit has been widened to larger loans with greater flexibility in repayment schedule for facilitating the production of agricultural commodities at field level. The agricultural loans or crop loans are being provided targeting cropping seasons with comparatively long term repayment schedule. The project aims to improve livelihoods of 210,000 marginal and small farm households by facilitating their access to microfinance services in the existing farm and off-farm enterprises.

The project has passed four years (FY 2005– 09) of its operation and achieved remarkable progress especially in the lending system. Significant progress has been made in agriculture lending & promotion of production technologies, crop storage, market linkage and capacity building during the period. Establishing strategic alliance with the relevant Government Agencies has added extra impetus to this very necessary intervention for the small and marginal farmers. Microfinance Services, covering 85% of the total project cost, have been tailored to meet the needs of the farmers. Such services include PO start-up activities, microcredit for farmers, crop storage pilot and disaster reserve fund. The project has built a well-established system of channeling microcredit funds to target groups organized by the POs.The farmers are gradually being educated in using the technologies of leaf color charts, porous pipe for cost-effective irrigation, agriculture calendar, and cost-effective use of inputs like fertilizer and seeds.

The project, so far has established 209 branch offices through 25 POs. A total of 173,736 members have been organized among which 84% are women. 133,984 beneficiaries have been provided with loans. Achievement of member enrolment is 83% of the cumulative target up to June 2009. In FY 2009, PKSF disbursed BDT 0.57 Billion, which grew by 19% from last FY while POs disbursed BDT 2.17 Billion, which is 39% higher than FY 2008. The average loan size was BDT 12,858 in FY 2009. At the end of the period, loan outstanding at PKSF and field level stood at BDT 0.95 Billion and BDT 1.07 Billion respectively. As seen in Figure 16, 61% of beneficiaries use the loan in crop production while 17% use the loan in poultry and livestock among others.

The project, so far has established 209 branch offices through 25 POs. A total of 173,736 members have been organized among which 84% are women. 133,984 beneficiaries have been provided with loans. Achievement of member enrolment is 83% of the cumulative target up to June 2009. In FY 2009, PKSF disbursed BDT 0.57 Billion, which grew by 19% from last FY while POs disbursed BDT 2.17 Billion, which is 39% higher than FY 2008. The average loan size was BDT 12,858 in FY 2009. At the end of the period, loan outstanding at PKSF and field level stood at BDT 0.95 Billion and BDT 1.07 Billion respectively. As seen in Figure 16, 61% of beneficiaries use the loan in crop production while 17% use the loan in poultry and livestock among others.