StandChat, OBHIZATRIK distribute food to destitues

Business Desk :
Standard Chartered Bangladesh has partnered with OBHIZATRIK Foundation to distribute fresh food packages consisting of organic fruits and vegetables to serve the immediate needs of distressed communities in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Under the initiative, the food packages will reach 40,000 families, supporting 200,000 direct beneficiaries. The produce will be sourced directly from 200 rural smallholder firms, sustaining employment for around 2000 workers.
Depressed economic activity as a result of the pandemic continues to put distressed communities in twin jeopardy, where they must face the threat of a pandemic while their livelihoods remain uncertain. Informal and casually employed workers are particularly vulnerable.
Through this partnership, the Bank hopes to build a sustainable linkage between vulnerable individuals with diminished purchasing power and smallholder farmers facing a dearth of demand for their produce.
The food packages will include a range of fresh vegetables and fruits, including sweet pumpkin, bitter gourd, gourd, green chili, potato, spinach, eggplant, cucumber and seasonal fruits. Each package will consist of 5 KG of fresh organic produce. The produce will be distributed through OBHIZATRIK Foundation’s “Bina Poyshar Bazar” platform, at locations across Dhaka and Chattogram.
Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said, “Few months back, a video went viral on social media which showed a farmer in tears, as he had to throw away vegetables he had been unable to sell even at 5% of the price that it was sold for in Dhaka.”
“Around the same time, we at Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh reached out to our millennial colleagues in Bangladesh to come up with innovative community engagement plans. They came up with the idea to bridge between those farmers and the city dwellers, both of whom were adversely impacted by the pandemic,” he added.