City Bank partners with Milk Vita, Agroshift on dairy financing

City Bank PLC, Milk Vita and Agroshift recently signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch a “Digital Dairy Financing Initiative” aimed at expanding access to formal finance for dairy and cattle farmers across Bangladesh through a technology-enabled ecosystem.

Under the initiative, Milk Vita, Bangladesh’s largest dairy cooperative ecosystem, will provide access to its extensive network of more than 3,300 primary cooperative societies, 61 chilling centres and over 300,000 dairy farmers operating across 57 districts.

Agroshift will serve as the technology and ecosystem enablement partner, supporting farmer identification, digital onboarding, eKYC, operational monitoring and utilisation tracking through a digitised platform.

Leveraging this digital infrastructure, City Bank will facilitate financing solutions tailored to the needs of dairy and cattle farmers, enabling productive investments, improved financial inclusion and greater participation in the formal banking system. Mashrur Arefin, managing director and CEO of the bank; SM Ameer Hamza Shatil, chairman of the milk production company; and Qazi Bouland Mussabbir, chief executive officer of the agritech startup company, signed the MoU at City Bank Centre in Gulshan, Dhaka, according to a press release.

Speaking on the occasion, representatives of the three organisations expressed confidence that the collaboration will serve as a transformative model for digitally enabled agricultural financing, helping unlock new opportunities for dairy farmers while supporting Bangladesh’s broader goals of rural development, food security and inclusive economic growth.

The partnership seeks to address one of the most critical challenges facing Bangladesh’s dairy sector­ -- limited access to formal financing despite the sector’s significant contribution to the national economy and rural livelihoods.

The collaboration brings together cooperative reach, digital innovation and financial expertise. By creating a robust digital data infrastructure and farmer financing framework, the initiative aims to unlock sustainable growth opportunities throughout the dairy value chain.

According to industry estimates, Bangladesh is home to approximately 1.2 million dairy farms, supporting nearly 9.4 million people directly and indirectly. The livestock and dairy subsector contributes around 2.73 percent to national GDP and 17.15 percent of agricultural GDP.

Bangladesh produced approximately 10.79 million tonnes of milk in 2024, ranking fifth in Asia and 19th globally by production volume.

The domestic milk market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 9 percent through 2029, reaching an estimated market size of $8.43 billion.

Among others, Md Mahbubur Rahman, additional managing director and chief financial officer; Kamrul Mehedi, deputy managing director and head of small, microfinance and agent banking business; Md Ashanur Rahman, deputy managing director, chief economist and country business manager; Zahidul Islam, managing director of Milk Vita and joint secretary of the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division; and Diptha Saha, chief operating officer of Agroshift, were also present.