MENU
back
en
  1. Home
  2. Projects
  3. Katalyst
  4. Milestone Achievements

Milestone Achievements

Katalyst has proven to be one of the leading market systems development projects in Bangladesh and the world. During the project lifetime Katalyst has benefitted 4.69 million farmer lives resulting into to more than 689 million dollars increase in their income. The project has been instrumental in developing innovative business models and tools of market system development. 

Jobs and Income
By December 2017, 4.8 million SMEs and farmers will have increased their income by USD 689 million. Katalyst’s interventions resulted in creating more than 800,000 full-time equivalents. Jobs in farms and SMEs were a direct result of these efforts, but there were also indirect results in the form of new jobs in various associated value chains, created by increased income and spending. 

Poverty-Oriented Focus
Katalyst systematically applied the Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI). 76% of beneficiaries (farmers and small business owners) were living below the upper poverty line (less than 2.5 USD per day), and 23% below the lower poverty line (less than 1.25 USD per day). The PPI helped to design interventions towards a more poverty-oriented focus. 

Quantitative Achievements
Katalyst exceeded all targets given by its donors and the government of Bangladesh by leaps and bounds, laying a foundation for successful scaling-up by applying the Market Systems Development (MSD) approach. Katalyst has facilitated 309 interventions during 2000-2017. The below examples are drawn from those interventions.

Qualitative Achievements

  • Katalyst positioned itself as a pioneer in market development, achieving recognition for using an innovative approach engaging beneficiaries, processes, structures and partners. From 2005 onwards, the project contributed significantly to the emergence of DCED’s Standard for Results Measurement.
  • Katalyst’s MRM system was successfully audited by the DCED in 2011 as the first global project, achieving even better results in 2013.
  • Katalyst strengthened its position as a benchmark project, not only in the MSD domain, but also in the job market for young professionals in Bangladesh, and as a valuable partner to government agencies and private companies.
  • It achieved its greatest recognition in 2014 by winning the OECD DAC prize for taking development innovations to scale, based on the seed mini-pack intervention.
  • Katalyst applied new tools, such as the systemic change measurement framework with SenseMaker, the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) index, and an improved version of the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI).
Katalyst Experiences
176 kB