FAO partners with bKash to streamline cash aid, incentive disbursement

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has signed an agreement with bKash Limited, a leading mobile financial service (MFS) provider in Bangladesh, to disburse cash assistance and incentives directly to beneficiaries through MFS.

The initiative aims to simplify, enhance transparency, and strengthen the security of FAO’s field-level financial management.

Beneficiaries will be able to receive funds instantly in their bKash accounts and use them for emergency and daily needs.

Ali Ahmmed, chief commercial officer of bKash Limited, and Jiaoqun Shi, FAO representative in Bangladesh, signed the agreement at the FAO Bangladesh Country Office in Dhaka recently, according to a press release.

Under the agreement, FAO will use bKash’s “Disbursement Solution” to provide unconditional cash assistance to disaster-affected communities, including farmers, fishermen, livestock keepers, and day labourers.

The system enables immediate disbursement at any time, including weekends and holidays, helping recipients meet urgent needs and support early recovery.

FAO will also utilise the platform to implement its Cash-for-Work (CFW) programmes, where vulnerable individuals receive wages in exchange for short-term work supporting agriculture, food security, and natural resource management.

Programme facilitators will also receive their allowances through bKash.

Recipients can cash out funds from bKash agent points or ATM booths nationwide. They can also use their accounts to make merchant payments, pay utility bills, transfer money, recharge mobile balances, and pay educational or government fees without visiting agent points.

Among others, Dia Sanou, deputy representative of FAO in Bangladesh; Ekramul Hoque, assistant representative (administration); Masrur Chowdhury, head of business sales at bKash; and Novera Ayesha Zaman, vice-president of microfinance payment at business sales, were present.