PKSF

MFTS (Microfinance and Technical Support) 

In the year 2003, PKSF launched a project titled Microfinance and Technical Support Project (MFTSP) with financial support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to reinforce their effort in livestock development. MFTSP provided sustainable financial services along with technical assistances to moderate and hardcore poor for the adaptation of sustainable livestock related IGAs. As a livestock development project, MFTSP demonstrated remarkable success in remote areas by providing market-linkage support for livestock development. The project succeeded in attaining its stated objectives targetted to improve the livelihood and food security of the poor and empowerment of women. 

Working Areas 

MFTSP was successfully completed on 31 December 2010. MFTSP was implemented in 97 upazilas of 13 southern and north-eastern districts of Bangladesh through 24 POs of PKSF. The project reached 237,336 poor households through 170 area offices and the total number of end-borrowers stood at 171,723. Approximately, 95% of them were women and 17.7% belonged to ultra poor.

Activities 

Performance of MFTSP in terms of loan disbursement and recovery has been extremely remarkable. As of 31 December 2010

• PKSF disbursed a cumulative loan of BDT 2,342.80 million while the POs provided a cumulative loan of BDT 13,750.80 million to end-borrowers by revolving the fund received from PKSF and savings mobilized from the end borrowers.

• Loan recovery rate at PKSF-PO level and PO-Beneficiaries level remained around 99% and 97% respectively.

• The total amount of beneficiaries savings was BDT 477.44 million while average savings per person stood slightly more than BDT 2,011.

Training 

Training, one of the integral components of MFTSP, played a crucial role in terms of disseminating livestock technologies and adaptating sustainable livestock-based IGAs by the poor. According to empirical evidences, training made a positive impact on increasing production and incomes of the project beneficiaries.

-Training was offered to 182,939 project participants on general livestock; 2,874 project  participants on specialized livestock and 91,780 project participants on social development.

 -A six-month long intensive training was organized for 27 community livestock extension workers at a public veterinary training institute. 

- More than 3,633 POs staff were trained on managerial and livestock related issues. In addition, 395 POs staff attended follow-up training.

- 141 persons (mostly from PKSF and government agencies) attended relevant foreign trainings, seminars and study tours.

In total, 18 adaptive/socio-economic research studies had been carried out of which 5 were adaptive/on-farm research projects, 6 were socio-economic studies and 7 were participatory technology testing.