The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) has approved a grant of US$ 8 million for the Food Security and Agricultural Productivity Project (FSAPP).
The FSAP Project was developed in partnership with the World Bank and the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
The five year project will help Bhutan increase its food security, enhance agricultural productivity and improve market access for farmers in selected gewogs in the south-west of the country.
The project will benefit 25 gewogs in the five south-western dzongkhags of Chhukha, Dagana, Haa, Samtse and Sarpang. It is expected to directly benefit over 10,000 households and 3,000 school children.
The areas for the project implementation were indentified based on opportunities for commercialization. The prevalence of poverty, malnutrition and low agricultural productivity were also taken into account when selecting the places.
The project begins in the 2017-2018 financial year. World Bank will contribute to the project as the supervising entity, while the FAO will provide technical support.
The project has four components- strengthening farmer and producer crops, enhancing farmer productivity, enhancing access to markets and project management.
The key agricultural products under focus include rice, vegetables, pulses, and potatoes, cardamom, ginger and citrus.
The total cost of the project is US$ 9.33 M. The additional funding will be contributed by the Bhutanese government and beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) is a multilateral mechanism aimed at improving income and food and nutrition security in low-income countries by boosting agricultural productivity.
