Small Farmer Development Foundation (ক্ষুদ্র কৃষক উন্নয়ন ফাউন্ডেশন) is a government foundation of Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives of Bangladesh that is responsible for the welfare of small-scale farms and farmers. The current Managing Director of the organisation is Md Zakir Hossain Akanda. He is a former Secretary to the Government and Member of Planning Commission, Ministry of Planning. It is the pioneering organisation in Bangladesh to provide collateral free

micro loans :''This article is specific to small loans, often provided in a pooled manner. For direct payments to individuals for specific projects, see Micropatronage. For financial services to the poor, see Microfinance. For small payments, see Micropayme ...

to small farmers in Bangladesh.

History

Small Farmer Development Foundation traces its origins to the Small Farmers and Landless Work Development Project, an experimental project of

Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ পল্লী উন্নয়ন একাডেমী (বার্ড)) Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) started its journey on 27 May 1959 as a ...

. The project ran from 1975 to 1976 in

Bogra District Bogra District, officially known as Bogura District, is a district in the northern part of Bangladesh, in the Rajshahi Division. Bogra is an industrial city where many small and mid-sized companies are sited. Bogra was a part of the ancient Pun ...

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to t ...

, and

Mymensingh District Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of Netr ...

. In July 1988 the project was expanded to

Patuakhali District Patuakhali () is a district in South-central Bangladesh in the Barisal Division. This district is the main entrance for the beach of Kuakata. Geography It is adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. The area of the district is 3220.15 km2. Patuakha ...

and

Barguna District Barguna ( bn, বরগুনা ''Borguna'') is a district in the Barisal Division, division of Barisal, Bangladesh. It is situated in the southern part of Bangladesh. Barguna subdivision was established in 1969 and promoted to district on 28 Fe ...

. The first part of the project completed in 1991. The second phase continued from 1991 to 1996 and included

Barisal District Barisal District, officially spelled Barishal District from April 2018, is a district in south-central Bangladesh, formerly called Bakerganj district, established in 1797. Its headquarters are in the city of Barisal, which is also the headqua ...

and

Bhola District Bhola District ( bn, ভোলা) is an administrative district (''zila'') in south-central Bangladesh, which includes Bhola Island, the largest island of Bangladesh. It is located in the Barisal Division and has an area of 3403.48 km2. It i ...

. The third phase of the project ran from 1998 to 2004. Later on the project was transformed into a separate legal foundation under the Article 28 of the Companies Act of 1994 to continue its work.

References

Government-owned companies of Bangladesh 1975 establishments in Bangladesh Organisations based in Dhaka {{Bangladesh-org-stub