Four ways digital technology is transforming lives across Bangladesh

To increase efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and impact, WFP has identified and deployed cutting-edge technologies in Bangladesh. Did you know all WFP cash-based transfers in the country are digitalized, and since April 2021, every refugee in Cox’s Bazar has received food through e-vouchers???

Here are four ways WFP puts innovative digital solutions at the heart of its response across Bangladesh.?

Dignifying shopping experience for refugees??

Six years into the Rohingya refugee crisis, nearly a million Rohingya remain stranded in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh, their plight far from over. WFP supports the entire Rohingya population with food assistance to meet their basic food and nutrition needs.?

WFP's food assistance is delivered through electronic vouchers, or e-vouchers, which allow refugees to shop for their preferred foods at one of the 21 WFP e-voucher outlets across the camps, operated by local retailers.?

The e-voucher outlets function like supermarkets. Families receive a WFP Assistance Card, which can be used at the outlets like a debit card. They can choose what they want and what their family prefers. The items available include the usual staples of rice, lentils, eggs, spices, and fresh fruits and vegetables, along with proteins like dried fish, a favorite among many Rohingya families.???

The e-vouchers use Building Blocks, a blockchain technology, such that when someone comes to the outlet, a quick scan of their card tells WFP what they are entitled to based on their family size. They can then choose their foods up to the value allocated to their family.?

“I am happy about WFP’s food voucher system,” said Alam Ara, a resident in the Rohingya camps. The touch of technology has transformed the way refugees receive food, as it offers them a chance to choose which food to buy rather than being handed out.?

Transforming lives in Dhaka's urban slums

“This bonus has been crucial for our family, enabling us to buy more healthy options. Thanks to this, we are now able to consume meat and fish on a regular basis." - Sharmin, a resident of the Duaripara slum of Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Imagine getting rewarded for eating healthy – that’s the beauty of WFP’s urban food assistance in Bangladesh.??

To support the Government’s pandemic response, WFP launched an urban food assistance pilot in Dhaka slums to address families' need to have a healthier diet by promoting the purchasing and consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits. An unconditional cash stipend of BDT 3000 (US$30) was provided to over 3,000 vulnerable households, complemented by social behavior change communication and cash-back incentives to promote the purchase of more healthy foods.?

WFP uses the same blockchain technology used in its refugee operations in Cox’s Bazar, to record food purchases by the participants of the programme from designated shops.?

At the end of each month, those who purchase nutritious food from at least five different food groups with their cash stipend receive a proportional cashback of up to 25 percent (BDT 750) of their total stipend as an incentive to adopt a more diverse and nutritious diet.?

“This bonus has been crucial for our family, enabling us to buy more healthy options. Thanks to this, we are now able to consume meat and fish on a regular basis,” said Sharmin, one of the programme participants, who lives in the Duaripara slum of Dhaka in Bangladesh. She receives a bonus (cashback) of BDT 750 every month when she purchases BDT 2000 worth of groceries from the five food groups.??

“Before, we didn’t know consuming too much rice was not good for us. Now we consume less rice and more nutritious food,” Sharmin added with a wide grin.??

Preparing the most vulnerable before disaster strikes??

With two cyclones and heavy monsoon rains battering parts of Bangladesh, including Cox’s Bazar - host to nearly one million Rohingya refugees – 2023 left the country with another poignant reminder that climate change is all too real.???

WFP builds community resilience against climate shocks and helps them adjust to the new reality of the climate crisis through the Anticipatory Action programme, previously known as Forecast Based Financing (FbF).?

Anticipatory Action or FbF is implemented prior to an extreme weather event, based on forecast triggers, whereby the most vulnerable households receive early warning messaging and mobile money payments to protect their assets and livelihoods ahead of the disaster.???

?By planning and acting early, WFP helps minimize losses and damages caused by extreme weather events and reduces the need for humanitarian assistance in their aftermath.??

“Receiving 4500 Taka (US$40) ahead of the cyclone was like receiving 4 million Taka. A day after the cyclone passed, I bought rice for my family and got my house fixed,” said Mohammad Tayeb, whose house was left battered by cyclone Mocha, which impacted Teknaf of Bangladesh, where he lived.?

Families most at risk of losses, including women-headed households, the elderly, and people with disabilities like Tayeb, received mobile cash assistance to help them buy essential supplies, secure their homes and assets, and move to safer areas ahead of extreme weather.?

“I would have been in trouble if I didn’t have this money.” Electronically received cash assistance ahead of disasters has been a boon for the most vulnerable, like Tayeb.?

Empowering female farmers to earn fairer prices at local markets?

"Now, we can educate our children. Now, we have no shortages. We can support our children with education costs."?- Popy Barua, a female smallholder farmer living in Cox's Bazar.

In Bangladesh, women are the backbone of local food systems, managing farms, caring for livestock, and selling agricultural products at local markets.?

Despite this, they continue to face barriers that limit their economic potential, such as access to training, land, and equal opportunity to sell their goods for fair prices. They often compete with male farmers, whom many people prefer to buy from due to cultural expectations of women.?

"When I went to the market on the first day, people were saying, why should women come to the market? They should stay home," says Popy, a female smallholder farmer in Cox's Bazar to BBC News in an interview about WFP's Farm2Go app.?

“They always try to pay us low and tell us nonsense comments like where are your husbands? If I don't sell my products, how will I earn money?"?

?Now, Popy, and hundreds of other female farmers like her are using WFP's Farm2Go app, enabling them to list their produce digitally and sell to local buyers without identifying their gender, eliminating the barriers they face when selling their goods in person.??

"If we sell a product in the market for 30 taka, we can sell it [on the app] for 31 or 32 taka," she says, adding that she can reinvest the difference to support her children's future.?

"Now, we can educate our children. Now, we have no shortages. We can support our children with education costs."?