Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) and LightCastle Partners Hosts Networking Dinner for Agri-Tech Startups

On 3rd October 2022, LightCastle Partners and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) hosted a networking dinner for an exclusive group of agritech startups with high-impact potential in the agriculture sector. The dinner was graced by the presence of representatives from 8 of the largest agritech startups in Bangladesh. Mr. Robert Berlin, Head of Agriservices, Digital Delivery & Country Programs, SFSA; Hasan A. Arif, Head of Portfolio Investments, Startup Bangladesh Limited; Md. Farhad Zamil, Country Director, SFSA Bangladesh; and Abdur Rouf, MRM & ICT Lead, SFSA Bangladesh, also attended the event.

Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) is a leading organization working on sustainable agriculture across the world

SFSA works with more than two million smallholder farmers across 12 countries around the world to create a sustainable future for those working in agriculture. Their services include agriservices, risk management for small-scale farmers, support for research and development for resource-scarce farmers, and advocacy in inclusive policies for sustainable agriculture. SFSA has been working in Bangladesh since 2011, across several projects for efficient agricultural processing, increasing access to market for rural farmers, and supporting rural livelihoods.

Agriculture is one of the largest sectors for generating employment in Bangladesh

According to the World Bank, nearly 40% of the population in Bangladesh is employed in the agriculture sector, generating around 17% of the country’s GDP. Yet, the penetration of training and technologies for efficient agriculture available to farmers remains low. Due to an unstructured market and an inefficient value-chain system, farmers often do not get the best value for their efforts. As these challenges intensify as a result of poor crop yields due to the impacts of climate change, agri-tech enterprises and other organizations working on sustainable farming are increasingly becoming more important in their role to help small-scale farmers.

“95-98% of the food market is still unstructured, so there is a big opportunity to structure the market to increase efficiency in the retail and wholesale segments of the market,” says Tanvir Sifat, 

Director of Strategy & Business Development of Direct Fresh.

The networking dinner served as an opportunity for the largest agri-tech enterprises in Bangladesh to explore opportunities to collaborate for strengthened impact

The dinner was attended by many such agri-tech enterprises tackling these challenges, and served as an opportunity for future collaborations between SFSA and agri-tech startups in the country. Notable agri-tech startups present at the event were: 

• iFarmer, a Dhaka-based agri-tech platform connecting 60,000+ farmers with access to finance, training, knowledge, and markets
• iPage, an AgriTech startup focusing on giving more than 1,000 farmers a better understanding of their soil for 41% better profitability
• Chaldal, the country’s largest online grocery delivery platform. 
• Representatives also attended from Fashol.com, Krishi Shwapno, InsureCow, Deshifarmer, Wegro, Greeniculture, Khaas Foods, Premium Fruits, and Direct Fresh.

“I was very impressed with the dynamics from different sectors and how young entrepreneurs are making change in the landscape of agriculture. We have seen interesting business models to link small-scale farmers to sophisticated markets with new products, and new innovative ways to provide support, as well as effort to develop new market linkages between aggregators and market linkages,” remarked Robert Berlin, Head of Agriservices, Digital Delivery & Country Programs, SFSA.

As the challenges faced in the Bangladeshi agriculture sector are hardened with climate change, new technology and innovation driven initiatives are crucial to ensure  better profitability and livelihoods for small-scale rural farmers across the country. By bringing together major stakeholders in the agritech startup industry, the networking dinner fostered discussions on the opportunities for collaborations between stakeholders, to tackle upcoming challenges for a sustainable future for agriculture.

The dinner was attended by:

1. Robert Berlin, Head of Agriservices, Digital Delivery & Country Programs, SFSA
2. Hasan A. Arif, Head of Portfolio Investments, Startup Bangladesh Limited
3. Md. Farhad Zamil, Country Director, SFSA Bangladesh
4. Abdur Rouf, MRM & ICT Lead, SFSA Bangladesh
5. Kazi Aniqa Nawar, Digital Delivery Specialist, SFSA Bangladesh
6. Jamil Akbar, Co-Founder and CEO, iFarmer
7. Mashrur H. Shurid, Co-Founder & CEO, iPage
8. Sakib Hossain, Founder & CEO, Fashol.com
9. Diptha Saha, Co-Founder & COO, Agroshift
10. Sayed Zubaer Hasan, Founder and CEO, Krishi Shwapno
11. Tahmid Ferdous, Lead Software Developer, InsureCow
12. Syed MD Fahim, Founder & CEO, Deshifarmer
13. Md Mahmudur Rahman, CEO & Co-Founder, WeGro 
14. Rakibul Islam, Co-Founder and CEO, Greeniculture
15. Syed Shagor, Co-Founder & CEO, Premium Fruits
16. Waseem Alim, Co-Founder & CEO, Chaldal
17. Naiful Akbar, Head of Technology, Agrigate Network Limited
18. Muhammad Ashraful Islam, Head of Agriculture, Agrigate Network Limited
19. Tanvir Sifat, Director of Strategy & Business Development, Direct Fresh
20. Bijon Islam, Co-Founder & CEO, LightCastle Partners
21. Mehad ul Haque, Senior Business Consultant & Project Manager, LightCastle Partners
22. Abdullah Reza, Digital Product Manager, LightCastle Partners
23. Mustafa Hamid, Business Consultant, LightCastle Partners
24. Rasel Rana, Chief Technology Officer, LightCastle Partners
25. Raidah Morshed, Business Analyst, LightCastle Partners

This article was authored by Raidah Morshed, Business Analyst at LightCastle Partners. For further clarifications, contact here: [email protected]