World Bank to provide $210m loan for food storage system in Bangladesh

The International Development Association (IDA), part of the World Bank, will provide a $210m loan to Bangladesh to set up a food storage system and strengthen distribution capabilities.

The government of Bangladesh has signed a financing agreement with IDA for the credit, which has a 40-year term, with a ten-year grace period.

Using the funds, the government will construct steel silos with a storage capacity of 535,500t of rice and wheat.

It will also provide 500,000 households in disaster-prone coastal areas with smaller household silos to ensure food security during and after natural disasters.

The move is part of the Bangladesh Modern Food Storage Facilities Project, which aims to increase the availability of grains to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management.

Unlike traditional concrete warehousing that can store grains for up to one year, the steel silos can store food grains such as rice and wheat for up to three years, while retaining the nutritional quality through computerised control of humidity and temperature.

The household silos, which will be manufactured in Bangladesh, will store around 40kg of paddy.

World Bank Bangladesh acting country head Christine Kimes said that this modern food storage system, combined with an effective distribution system, will help to ensure food security immediately after a natural disaster.

"The project will reduce the vulnerability of people living in natural disaster prone areas and help Bangladesh build a stock of food to meet emergencies," added Kimes.

Government of Bangladesh Economic Relations Division additional secretary Arastoo Khan said that the steel rice and wheat silos would offer enhanced shelf life of rice and wheat from seven months to three years.

"This would protect the Government from having to replenish rice and wheat stock every 7 month with huge cost. The government would have greater maneuverability in management and distribution of cereal stock," added Khan.

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Image: The World Bank loan will help Bangladesh build a food storage system. Photo courtesy of David Monniaux.