Identification of Suitability of Sites for Microenterprises for Value Chain Development: A Study in Gazipur District, Bangladesh

In recent years, many commercial poultry farm microenterprises (MEs) have flourished in rural areas with the help of an extensive microfinance program in Bangladesh. These poultry MEs are in a key position for the profitable operation of other actors in the poultry subsector value chain. But not all these MEs are located in suitable places, which results in poor input supply and marketing facilities for their products and thus cause higher costs and less profit. The government, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and donor agencies apply the same policy for providing support services to all these poultry farmers, irrespective of their locations. Thus, this paper tries to explain the poultry value chain in Gazipur District, where the concentration of poultry farms is highest, and to delineate suitable sites for poultry MEs using the multicriteria evaluation technique within a Geographic Information System context, utilizing factors such as flood-free land, and infrastructures related to the poultry business-enabling environment of the value chain. The delineation of suitable land areas for farms can help NGOs, as well as the government, to design interventions and appropriate policy development for farmers in different locations, and thus help all farmers to increase their profit and sustainability.