TRAININGS

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Innovision Conducts Trainings forUSAID’S CREL STAFFS and NETZ BANGLADESH

VOL 8. APR - JUN 2013

Capacity Development of USAID’s CREL Staffs on VCD Approach VCD Trainig for USAID’s and Winrock CREL Staffs

Innovision Consulting Private Limited, being a leader in Value Chain Research and Capacity Development, was commissioned with the assignment for Capacity Development of USAID’s CREL Staffs on Value Chain Development Approach. On June 2013, Innovision provided 5 day long training sessions in 4 different regions- Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet and Srimangal. More than 100 staffs of different partner organiza-tions were aided by these training sessions.

Since March, 2013 Winrock and the partners have started implementing the Climate-Resilient Ecosys-tems and Livelihoods (CREL) project to conserve ecosystems and protected areas (PAs) in Bangladesh, to improve governance of natural resources and biodiversity, and to increase resilience towards climate change through improved planning and livelihoods diversification. For achieving project objectives, it is important for all partner organiza-tions to have sufficient knowledge on value chains of the commercially viable high value farm and off farm products. Innovision was engaged on the purpose to guide the PNGO staffs on Value Chain. The whole session was highly interactive and partici-patory. Through the entire training session, Basic Concepts of Value Chain Approach, Concepts for

Climate Resilient Value Chain Approach, Beneficiary Selection and Value Chain Selection in CRVC Approach, Mapping of Climate Resilient Value Chain, Opportunity Identification and Constraints Analysis, Climate Resilient Intervention Design Performance Measure and Ensuring Sustainability of CR Interven-tion were thoroughly discussed with lot of interactive training methods- role playing, mock interviews, case studies, field exercises, open discussion and Q&A sessions and other interactive activities . The training was customized and designed for CREL projects staff ’s capacity development and to identify chal-lenges might be faced by the staffs in intervention.

The Role Playing Exercise

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VISION is a quarterly newsletter by Innovision Consulting Private Limited. To know more about Innovision please visit www.innovision-bd.com or write to info@innovision-bd.com.

United They Stand Innovision Conducts Annual Project Report of APONE

Training on Market System Development, Program Design and FacilitationTraining and Backstopping on MSD for NETZ Bangladesh

From April 2 to April 5, 2013 Innovision organized a training facilitation program for NETZ Bangladesh on marketing aspects of ultra poor beneficiaries under different livelihood projects. Initially Innovision was involved in 4 day long training session for capac-ity development of 30 NETZ and PNGO staffs on Market System Development Approach. Through highly interactive sessions, the participants discussed the theories and emerging concepts related to market system development and exchanged their experiences related to it. The training was designed to help NETZ and PNGO staffs to improve their programmatic capacity for market system develop-ment as a tool for poverty alleviation.

Innovision also facilitated in technical and backstop-ping to support core trainers for conducting the 2nd level training to grass root level staff in the PNGOs level. Each session was 3 days long in 5 different districts- Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Dinajpur, Kurigram, Mymensingh, and around 140 participants in the PNGOs level were benefitted by this technical and backstopping support.

About NETZ Bangladesh

NETZ Partnership for Development and Justice, in short NETZ, is a charitable and inde-pendent organization working to end extreme poverty in Bangladesh since 1979. Together with local partner organizations NETZ supports self-help for nutrition, educa-tion and human rights. Self-help capacities are strengthened, nutrition and health status improved, income generating activities and schools supported, women’s rights and access to the legal system demanded. NETZ Bangla-desh sustainable livelihood program is sup-porting around 45000 extreme poor families in different districts of Bangladesh. The pro-gram reaches the poorest 20% of the popula-tion who are seriously affected by the monga and mainly living on chars and the embank-ments, and in secluded Adivasi villages target-ing starts from the bottom of the poverty line.

Source: NETZ Bangladesh Website

Alleviating Poverty in North East Bangladesh (APONE) is a project funded by DFID and managed by Traidcraft Exchange (TX) and co-implemented by Development Wheel (DeW) with two local civil society organizations (CSOs). The project works in a Community Based Approach (CBA) to develop the farmers as a group to better their relations with important stakeholders and take advantage of group buying and selling. Innovision conducted the baseline survey for the project in 2012. After completion of the 1st year of the project, Innovision was reassigned to measure project progress against targets and to recommend corrective or improvement measures for 2013 to meet and/or build on the project objectives. In the field assessment, response from 134 beneficiaries gathered through Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) across

Mymensingh and Sherpur. Additionally with the support of Project Management Team (PMT) from TraidCraft Exchange (TX) production performance of 180 benefi-ciaries’ was assessed through Producer Records.

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Finding the Right Mix of Sectors to Improve the Livelihood of the Char DwellersInnovision Selects and Analyzes Prospective Sectors for M4C

Char Area of Kaliganj Upazilla at Lalmonirhat District

VISION is a quarterly newsletter by Innovision Consulting Private Limited. To know more about Innovision please visit www.innovision-bd.com or write to info@innovision-bd.com.

M4C is a project funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in partner-ship with the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives through the Rural Development and Co-operatives Division (RDCD) of the People’s Republic of the Government of Bangladesh. It started from December 2011, with the aim to unlock the poten-tial of the chars around the Padma, Jamuna and Teesta rivers by facilitating the growth of sec-tors which are most beneficial for the households’ livelihood options and food security. The program adopts the Markets for Poor (M4P) approach to design and implement its interven-tions.

The assessment was completed in two phases. In first phase, different agriculture crops being cultivated and non-farm activities on chars were indentified and selected through a series of workshops, primary investigation, validation and ranking exercises. In the second phase, detailed assessment of the selected agriculture and non-farm sectors was carried out through field survey and stakeholder interviews to identify constraints/opportunities, potential part-ners, sector strategy outlining, the vision and probable interventions for the sector. Finally, the assessment concluded on the strategies for four sectors- Onion, Groundnut, Mustard and-Handicraft.

NEWSLET TER OF INNOVISION

VISION is a quarterly newsletter by Innovision Consulting Private Limited. To know more about Innovision please visit www.innovision-bd.com or write to info@innovision-bd.com.

Kenaf – Promising Scope for Bangladeshi FarmersInnovision Facilitate Joyn Coop for Kenaf Study in Bangladesh

Innovision was commissioned by Joyn Coop to conduct a study on ‘The Sustainability in the Kenaf Sector in Bangladesh’. The study revealed that Kenaf has huge prospect in Bangladesh in terms of production. Farmers will be more interested in producing Kenaf if we can target new international markets and develop new value added products.

Joyn Coop, a German Consulting company that stands for empowering pro-poor development. They have expertise in financial sector development, local devel-opment, climate change and conflict & fragility. Their guiding principle is to offer an independent external per-spective and clients include international donor organi-zations, NGOs, foundations, the public sector, and socially responsible enterprises.

The objective of this study was:- To evaluate the social and environmental sus-tainability of Kenaf production- To identify the scope of expansion for Kenaf culti-vation- To check the compliance standards maintained in labor involvement, - Trading and finally understanding the Kenaf value chain.

The entire study was conducted in four districts of the Northern region of Bangladesh. Innovision selected different Kenaf producing clusters and approached for field survey in the four districts to collect farmers, trad-ers, labor and women responses through Focus Group Discussions and In-Depth Interview. Lastly the govern-ment owned and Private Mills were visited to gather the insights of the labors and management.

Interviews at Elenga, Tangail

Farmers FGD at Mymensing

Kenaf farmers of Ullahpara, Shirajganj

About KenafKenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L., Malvaceae) is a warm season annual fiber crop closely related to Jute (Corchoruscapsularis L.). It is produced mainly in India and China followed by Bangladesh. As the commercial use of kenaf continues to diversify from its historical use as a cordage crop (rope, twine, and sackcloth) to its various new applications including paper products, building materials, absorbents, and livestock feed, choices within the decision matrix will continue to increase and involve issues ranging from basic agricul-tural production methods to marketing of kenaf products. These manage-ment decisions will require an understanding of the many different facets of kenaf production as a fiber, feed, and seed crop.Source: Secondary Desk Review by Innovision