iDE

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EoI)

Partnership with “Hatchery, Nursery, and Financial Institutes for the Development of the Fish and Mud Crab Sector”

Issued by: IDE Bangladesh; NABAPALLAB Project

Re-issued date: 18 September 2025
Submission Deadline: 8 October 2025

Point of note: The potential partner(s) have the flexibility to select the specific challenges and scopes that are important for their work. The potential partner(s) could apply jointly with financial partners to participate in the bid process. iDE, in discussion with the potential partners, could also request the top three bidders to join with the financial partners to bring expected solutions.

A. Organizational Background
iDE is an international non-governmental organisation with over four decades of experience in designing and delivering market-based programmes to tackle poverty across 12 countries. As a global leader in making markets work for the poor and the longest-established market development specialist NGO in Bangladesh, iDE has consistently demonstrated the transformative potential of market systems in driving inclusive growth. We believe that well-functioning markets can be a powerful catalyst for enhancing smallholder prosperity by creating sustainable income and livelihood opportunities for rural households living in poverty. In Bangladesh, iDE is currently implementing a diverse portfolio of projects spanning agricultural markets, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition, and Financial Institute, with a strong emphasis on women’s economic empowerment and the promotion of climate-smart technologies.

B. Project and Assignment Background
Bangladesh is acutely vulnerable to both rapid- and slow-onset climate change impacts, including floods, cyclones, droughts, salinity intrusion, and heatwaves. These hazards threaten food security, water resources, health, and livelihoods, often leading to displacement, poverty, and loss of life. Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs), rich in biodiversity, are under growing pressure from both climate change and unsustainable human activity. Communities reliant on natural resources are among the most at risk. Safeguarding ecosystems such as the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor is therefore vital for sustaining biodiversity and protecting vulnerable populations.

The Sundarbans, home to over four million people as well as rare and endangered wildlife, faces multiple threats including rising sea levels, cyclones, overexploitation of resources, and industrial development in adjacent areas. Hakaluki Haor, one of the largest wetlands in Bangladesh, supports around 200,000 people and provides critical ecological services, particularly in fisheries and biodiversity conservation. Both areas highlight the urgent need for systematic, long-term planning to build resilience among communities and ecosystems.

In response, CARE Bangladesh is leading a consortium to implement the NABAPALLAB programme, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), in the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor. The consortium brings together respected partners including CNRS, Cordaid, BRAC-C3ER, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK), Friendship, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), iDE, and Practical Action. The programme seeks to empower communities by improving access to clean energy for productive and income-generating uses, such as solar-powered irrigation, aeration, chilling, and agro-machinery, with interventions targeted at upazila and union levels.

As part of the aquaculture initiative under NABAPALLAB, iDE Bangladesh, in collaboration with CARE Bangladesh, Practical Action, and Cordaid, is leading the hatchery development component. This approach focuses on demand-driven technology adoption and the provision of high-quality fingerlings (pona), thereby strengthening aquaculture value chains with innovative, affordable, and sustainable solutions.

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