http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=142513

One award, $15 million; Proposals due March 20

The purpose of the Agro-Inputs project is to stimulate agricultural development to increase production and productivity, to reduce rural poverty and to improve food security in the southern delta of Bangladesh. The project will achieve this goal by directly supporting private sector activities that result in the improved availability, quality and safe usage of agricultural inputs, such as: fertilizer, seed, pesticides which improve yields, mitigate environmental degradation at the farm level and improve product quality and export opportunities. Additionally, this project will provide enhanced access to and knowledge of agricultural inputs so that both male and female farmers can become educated consumers and can purchase appropriate quality inputs from trusted supply sources.

The Agro-Inputs Project seeks to establish a sustainable Agricultural Input Retailers’ Network (AIRN), enhance market information systems, improve quality control standards and build the capacity of local organizations through facilitation of the creation of a network of privately owned agricultural input retailers in the target area across twenty districts in southern Bangladesh establishing respective forward and backward sector linkages between agricultural input producers, importers, wholesalers and retailers in order to improve the supply of quality inputs sold on a commercial basis.