BRAC Bank has disbursed Tk59.39 crore to over 8,500 farming families in the last two years to boost productivity, strengthen rural livelihoods and expand financial inclusion, according to a press release issued on Monday.
The bank said the financing has directly benefited nearly 35,000 people, focusing on smallholder and marginal farmers in remote and climate-vulnerable areas.
Through its digital agri-lending platform Shubidha, farmers can access loans within 20 minutes with minimal documentation and without visiting a branch.
In partnership with Syngenta, iFarmer, Petrochem and the Department of Agricultural Extension, the bank disbursed Tk 15.99 crore to 3,256 farmers in 22 districts, combining loans with digital farm management tools and market support.
Another 1,844 farmers received Tk 8.73 crore for crop productivity and livelihood improvement, while 251 farmers in north-western districts received Tk 1.61 crore for maize, onion, potato and rice.
In Gaibandha’s char areas, a pilot project provided Tk 0.51 crore to 70 cattle-fattening farmers, and in disaster-prone districts including Khulna and Satkhira, 134 farmers received climate-smart financing.
Livestock and dairy development loans totalled Tk 6.58 crore for 552 farmers, including cooperative support through public–private coordination.
The disbursements covered 2,413 loans for paddy, 1,711 for beef fattening, 1,112 for maize, 851 for potato, 840 for dairy, 689 for onion, 212 for turmeric, 183 for nut, 162 for soybean, 112 for poverty alleviation, 74 for chilli and 53 for garlic.
Satkhira farmer Shopna Parvin expanded crab farming with a Tk 51,000 loan, repaid within six months, and now employs two women.
Rangpur farmer Md Nazmul Islam doubled his yield with better seeds and irrigation, repaid part of his loan, bought a water pump and enrolled his daughter in college.
BRAC Bank said it is exploring AI-based risk scoring and real-time decision-making tools to help farmers scale up, access export markets and engage in value-added agro-processing.