Integrating Digital Financial Services into Agricultural Value Chains: A Bangladesh Market Landscape Assessment

This report contains observations and analysis regarding the financial/payments patterns, needs, and preferences of multiple agricultural value chain (AVC) actors, namely smallholder farmers (SHFs), backward market actors (e.g., input retailers), and forward market actors (e.g., collectors), in the FTF Zone of Influence in the southern region of Bangladesh. The assessment also sought to gauge the strategic commitment, service offerings, and operational capacity of DFS providers as they relate to serving these different rural market segments, which drive economic activity in predominantly agricultural regions.

The assessment concludes with a series of recommendations that are intended to highlight potential ways forward for service providers or development organizations to integrate the use of DFS offerings within AVCs.