_Impact of climate change is considered as a significant emerging issue in Bangladesh as in other countries of the world. Heavy rains in July 2016 severely affected northern and central Bangladesh, with Rangpur and Dhaka divisions being the worst hit. A large proportion of farmers and agricultural service users live in these two categories.
About half of Bangladesh's citizens are employed in agriculture and more than a third (60 million people) earn their living from agricultural products. Aman, Aush and Boro varieties together produce about 44 million paddy in three seasons in Bangladesh. Among these, Aman rice production is the highest which is about 40% of the annual rice production. Considering the importance of nutrition, the Bangladesh government set a target of making the country self-sufficient in food grains by 2022.
The GSMA AgriTech program supports equitable and sustainable food supply chains that empower farmers and strengthen local economies. Smallholder farmers are an integral part of the food system, producing more than 30 percent of the world's food.
This program is contributing to closing the gap between the need for social impact and equity in the food supply chain, and the commercial interests of stakeholders in the agricultural sector. According to the activists, this digital technology has been developed to strengthen the capacity of farmers to prepare, resist and adapt to the consequences of climate change. It informs donors and investors about viable and business models that have the highest potential for impact and sustainability, and builds partnerships for innovation, inclusion and scale.
The GSMA AgriTech Accelerator ('the Accelerator') is part of the Fund for the Promotion of Innovation in Agriculture (iForAG), supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and is managed on behalf of the GSMA by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
Between 2014 and 2017, GSMA worked with six mobile network operators in the country to support the launch and scale of agricultural services. Product manufacturers have developed these services based on user experience, business intelligence and customer feedback, reaching more than five million registered users worldwide.
‘Krishi Seva’ is a special project run under Grameenphone's commercial team, with a larger team than traditional VAS. The service is capable of accelerating scale with the application of adequate marketing and business intelligence. This resulted in staff turnover at the C-level resulting in internal changes and slowing down of product development.