The Emergency Support for Food Security Project ($300 million) will provide time-bound financing to help Bangladesh import fertilizers critical for the Aman and Boro seasons in July–October 2026 and October 2026–April 2027, respectively.

The country imports more than 85% of its fertilizer requirements. The project will finance imports of 600,000 metric tons of critical fertilizers, half of which would be Urea, covering 1,400,000 hectares of rice production cultivated by smallholder farmers, said a World Bank press release.

“Bangladesh’s food security depends on Aman and Boro rice seasons, which together account for about 90% of the country’s total rice production. Further, about half the population is employed in agriculture sector. So, any disruption in fertilizer supply would not only threaten food security, it would deepen poverty and cost jobs,” said Souleymane Coulibaly, World Bank Lead Economist and Task Team Leader for the project.