Participants included large exporters, processors, private sector association leaders, the Plant Quarantine Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the Asian Farmers Association (AFA) and smallholder farmers. Exporters emphasized that smallholder farmers should be aware of the sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures that are required to export produce. They proposed that the project should include a productive alliance between DAE, exporters and POs, leveraging all the parties involved in a particular value chain. Both exporters and processors have expressed their interest to make agreements with commodity-based POs in agricultural clusters. They also suggested to scale up the MMI approach for PO access to finance, technology, information and value chains.
Bangladesh Agro-Processors’ Association, Bangladesh Potato Exporters Association and Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters Association