Bangladesh's PARTNER farm programme at 22% after three years gets its third director

PARTNER, the agriculture ministry's largest development project, aimed at raising farm productivity, building farmers' capacity and strengthening food security, has reached only 22 percent implementation in three years and three months, Krishi Shomoy reports.

Financed by the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the government of Bangladesh, the project has an allocation of about Tk 7,000 crore. Sources quoted by the paper say some other projects reached 60 to 65 percent over the same period, though the report notes that a fair comparison must account for each project's term, spending pattern and how progress is measured.

On 6 October the project director was replaced and Dr Md Shakhawat Hossain Sharif was given charge; he took over on Monday afternoon. The project's first director was dismissed over allegations of irregularities, and the second, appointed on 11 February 2025, was also removed, so leadership changed repeatedly during a critical phase.

The new director worked on the project from the start. On 18 January 2022, as additional director of the National Agricultural Technology Program-2 at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), he was made the project's focal person. The preliminary proposal was drawn up in March 2021, ECNEC approved the project on 18 April 2023 and a revised proposal on 9 May.

PARTNER is financed under the World Bank's Program-for-Results model: money is released only when targets under 10 disbursement-linked indicators and 24 disbursement-linked results are met and confirmed by an independent verification agency. Spending, procurement or construction alone do not count as progress; results against the indicators do.

The report says there are allegations that staff recruitment did not follow the approved project document and terms of reference, and those involved have asked for the appointment records to be reviewed. Officials quoted say a change of director alone will not lift progress without a reassessment of the implementation plan, transparent staffing, financial discipline and regular monitoring, on which the project's benefits reaching farmers depend.

The report is by Krishi Shomoy's staff reporter.

Source: Krishi Shomoy