Prabriddhi - Local Economic Development (LED) at District Level


In two urban municipalities and their surrounding territories, the public and private sector and civil society will engage in joint local economic strategizing, planning and implementation. A more vibrant, competitive  and better performing economy will benefit all people living in an area including businesses of all sizes and generate opportunities particularly for poor and marginalised women and men. The model of decentralized economic planning developed and refined locally will be replicated across Bangladesh.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Bangladesh
Employment & economic development
Agriculture & food security
Vocational training
Education
SME development
Agricultural development
Vocational training
Business support & economic inclusion
Employment creation
01.01.2017 - 31.08.2020
CHF  1’748’245
Background Bangladesh accounts for an impressive growth of around 6% of GDP over the last fifteen years and aspires to become a middle income country by 2021. However, not all the regions of the country were able to profit to the same extent from the economic transformation that led to this impressive GDP growth. Local potentials for market development and increasing productivity exist and offer entry points for the promotion of local economic development. With this project, Switzerland introduces a stronger territorial and process view into the economic development arena in Bangladesh, and acts in a complimentary way to the on-going efforts of decentralisation and strengthening of local government institutions. The local (territorial) view could lead to exploring complementarities between economic sub-sectors, which are presently often promoted by specific value chain or market development projects, and common institutional infrastructures.
Objectives The overall impact objective that spans over all the intended phases of the project is that ‘economically active people, including poor and marginalised women and men, have better business and employment opportunities and earn higher incomes’.
Target groups

Prabriddhi differentiates between target groups and beneficiaries. The target groups are local and national government agencies and line ministries in the public sector, various types of businesses and business people as well as business associations and other bodies that represent the private sector, and the wider civil society as far as they are organised enough and able to engage in a self-organised process of local improvement.

The beneficiaries are the people who the project intents to ultimately benefit, even though the project may not directly work with them. These potentially include all citizens in two selected districts. The project will, however, emphasise activities that have a higher potential to reach poor and disadvantaged women and men by fostering their inclusion in the LED process, making the local economy more inclusive in the long run. In the short term, the target group will in addition directly benefit from employment and income opportunities directly arising from value-chain upgrading, infrastructural and related skills development activities implemented in and around the two pilot municipalities. Due to the fact that the local development activities planned in this phase will only unfold in the second phase, benefit outreach will be limited to the quick win activities in the first phase. An estimated 2500 beneficiaries (30% women, 30% poor, 20% disadvantaged) will be covered in the first phase by quick win activities (2000 in Jessore, 500 in Chapai-Nawabganj).

Medium-term outcomes

Outcome 1: Diverse stakeholders dynamically collaborate in LED processes in the two selected districts in Bangladesh to promote an enabling business environment.

Outcome 2: Selected ministry, line departments and programs of Bangladesh Government and other key stakeholders engage in discussions on the appropriateness of LED in Bangladesh.

Results

Expected results:  

Output 01: Relevant actors in each pilot region have the capacity to engage in a basic LED process.

Output 02: Relevant actors in each pilot area engage in an LED process and co-fund initial LED activities.

Output 03: The municipalities and local business associations co-fund and implement pilot LED activities directly benefiting poor and disadvantaged women and men

Output 04: Relevant organisations and government agencies are aware of the LED programme, the LED concept in Bangladesh and their potential role in it.

Output 05: Mechanisms, instruments and a preliminary LED concept for providing direct support to the private sector based on lessons and best-fit practices captured from the pilot districts have been developed.     


Results from previous phases:   SDC conducted an institutional capacity assessment of different institutions both at local and national level, a context analysis of the selected pilot districts and commissioned a participatory appraisal of competitive advantages of the selected districts in terms of business and economic potentials. SDC also developed zero draft project document and carried out an international tender procedure.


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Development cooperation
Project partners Contract partner
Swiss Non-profit Organisation
  • Swisscontact


Other partners
Class A Municipalities in two selected districts and Finance Division of the Bangladesh Government
Coordination with other projects and actors The project will collaborate and coordinate particularly with SDC supported projects such as IWRM, Sharique, ELG, SanmarkS, Shomosthi, B-Skillful at local level and at national level Sudokho and other DP’s supported projects such as LGSP III, MGSP and MDF on relevant topics. The LED project will also collaborate with FBCCI, MDF and SME Foundation.
Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    1’748’245 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    1’618’309
Project phases Phase 2 01.09.2020 - 31.08.2025   (Current phase)

Phase 1 01.01.2017 - 31.08.2020   (Active)