NAAFCO held promotional events to train potential pesticide and input service providers, and establish brand loyalty. Through these events, NAAFCO trained over 85 service providers organized into groups, who now provide pruning, fertilizing, and spraying services to over 6,000 farmers. This has increased farmers' incomes, created new jobs, and led to safer produce with less harmful chemicals as service providers are now properly trained.

1. Bangladesh’s urban consumers are signaling demand for safe
horticultural products, and their willingness to pay a premium
price for safe produce, free from chemical residue, opens up a
significantmarketopportunity for farmers. But despite efforts
to curb pesticide andchemical use,farmersandorchardowners
struggle tosource properspray service providers, and there are
no trustedandtrainedprofessional servicesgroupsforspraying,
pruning,andotherinputservices. The impact of this constraint
passes through the distribution channel all the way to the
consumer,asproduce is over-sprayed,leavingharmful chemical
residue behind.
NAAFCO, a private sector grantee partner of USAID’s
Agricultural Value Chains Project (AVC), co-designed
promotional activities with AVC to support the emergence of a
formalized, professionally trained pool of spray service
providers. In an effort to increase sales of pesticides,
weedicides and other input products, NAAFCO held a series of
promotional eventsto market their input products to potential
service providers. These events captured the attention of new
buyers, drawing them in through promotional offers and
discounted prices on NAAFCO products. NAAFCO also
incorporated elements to begin building brand loyalty among
these new customers to catalyze behavior change in spraying
habits. NAAFCO embedded training in the events, conducting
hands on demonstrations with buyers/service providers in the
use of equipment and proper spraying application and dosage.
NAAFCOalsobuiltamore robustcustomerservice department,
providing a direct line of communication between the buyers
and NAAFCO for troubleshooting, follow up questions, and
comments and complaints. Through these events, NAAFCO
establishedakey customer base by catalyzing the formation of
well-trainedserviceproviderclusters,while also building brand
recognition, trust, and loyalty to encourage repeat customers
and boost sales. “NAAFCO’s success in launching products in
areas not saturated by commercial players has given us the
upper hand in dictating preferred consumers and creating our
ownloyaltyclubmembers,”the NAAFCOgeneral manager said.
MohammadOhab Ali,a memberofa
Service Provider Group in Jessore,
taking care ofa mangoorchard
Emergence of Professional Service
Providers Supports Safer Produce
NAAFCO co-designed
promotionalactivities
with AVC to supportthe
emergenceofa
formalized,
professionallytrained
poolofsprayservice
providers.
[Photo:AVC
“I usedto earn BDT 600
for day-longserviceswith
two spray machinesand
an additionallaborer. Now
with myadditionalskillsin
pruning,fertilizing,
wateringand cleaning,I
can earn atleastBDT
15,000 peronebigha
mangoorchardin a
season”,said Mohammad
Ohab Ali,a memberofa
ServiceProviderGroupin
Jessore

2. NAAFCO has identified 85 service providers, organized into
groupsin five areaswithinthe Jessore region, and each service
provider group interacts with and provides services to an
average of 80 farmers. NAAFCO’s initial focus was to train
service providers in mango orchard spraying, but based on
initial success,the programwasexpandedtotrainthese service
providers in a range of different support services for multiple
crops, which has provided consistent, year-round work for
previouslyunder-employed community members. The impact
of this outreach is reflected in the positive response the
company is receiving from both existing and new consumers.
Mohammad OhabAli,a member of a Service Provider Group in
Jessore highlighted his success under NAAFCO’s initiative. “I
used to earn BDT 600 for day-long services with two spray
machines and an additional laborer. Now with my additional
skillsinpruning,fertilizing, watering and cleaning, I can earn at
least BDT 15,000 per one bigha [33 decimals] mango orchard in
a season.” It is still early to measure the full impact of this
initiative on NAAFCO’s sales, but NAAFCO reports that their
input product sales trend has seen an increase in the last 3
monthsof 2016. NAAFCO’smangosectorisexpectedtoreporta
double-digit increase in sales of pesticides and fertilizer for
2016, and will become the leading contributor of sales in their
overall company portfolio.
Through NAAFCO’s work with AVC, they have catalyzed the
emergence of a professional service provider network, which
had been a key constraint in the market. This intervention has
benefited community livelihoods, orchard owners, and
consumers by creating new job opportunities for year round
work, providing access to well-trained professional spray and
pruning services, and resulting in safer produce with less
harmful residual chemicalsdue to over-spraying. This systemic
change is drivenbythe businessinterestof NAAFCOtomaintain
a pool of brand-loyal customers, which supports the
sustainability of the market solution. The end goal for this
activity is to support the Service Provider Groups to operate as
regional SMEs, providing a range of services to farmers in
multiple value chains.