Business Linkages and Producer Groups in Bangladesh: Options for Rural Microenterprise Development

Due to limitations in size, as well as physical distance from central points of commerce, rural-based microenterprises face substantial barriers to accessing both product and service markets. To address these barriers faced by microenterprises and to develop BDS markets, the USAID-funded Job Opportunities and Business Support (JOBS) Project in Bangladesh developed a number of different approaches that focus on organizing and linking microenterprises to potential product and service markets.

The following paper examines three of these strategies. It represents one in a series of technical notes, funded by USAID, aimed at highlighting innovations in developing BDS markets for the smallest of firms: microenterprises. Based on examples derived from the JOBS Project, the paper compares strategies across six measures: rationale for the approach, facilitatory role, service delivery and payment mechanism, microenterprise position, exit strategy and sustainability, and impact.