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We conduct an original lab-in-the-field experiment on the decision–making process of married couples over the allocation of rival and non-rival household goods. The experiment measures individual preferences over allocations and traces the process of deferral, consultation, communication and accommodation by which couples implement these preferences. We find few differences in individual preferences over allocations of goods. However, wives and husbands have strong preferences over process: women prefer to defer decisions to their husbands even when deferral is costly and is not observed by the husband; men rarely defer under any condition. Our study follows a randomized controlled trial t...
The COVID-19 pandemic compelled the Government of Bangladesh to impose policy measures to stop the spread of the virus. These efforts were critical for public health, but have led to serious disruptions in the economy and livelihoods. To document the experiences of Bangladeshi households during this time, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Cornell University conducted two rounds of socioeconomic phone surveys in rural areas of Bangladesh in June 2020 and in January 2021, and benchmarked them against data from in-person interviews carried out on the same households in 2019. Together, these surveys have tracked the experiences of Bangladeshi households in terms of unemployment, income loss, food insecurity, and coping mechanisms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) prepared this report to provide a comprehensive assessment of food security in Bangladesh, with a focus on the core dimensions of availability, access, and utilization. With support from Md. Al-Hasan, Sadat Anowar, Julie Ghostlaw, Mir Raihanul Islam, Razin Kabir, Md. Aminul Karim, Md. Aminul Islam Khandaker, Nabila Shaima, Raisa Shamma, and Sonjida Mesket Simi.
Evidence shows that cash and in-kind transfer programs increase food security while interventions are ongoing, including during or immediately after shocks. But less is known about whether receipt of these programs can have protective effects for household food security against shocks that occur several years after interventions end. We study the effects of a transfer program implemented as a cluster-randomized control trial in rural Bangladesh from 2012-2014 – the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) – on food security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess TMRI’s impacts at three post-program time points: before the shock (2018), amidst the shock (2021), and after...
“Boro” is the dry season irrigated rice crop planted from December to early February and harvested between April and June. In 2018/2019, the total production of rice in Bangladesh was 36,391,000 (36.4 million) metric tons (MT), of which boro rice accounted for 53.8 percent; aman rice, 38.6 percent; and aus rice, 7.6 percent. In 2019, paddy prices in Bangladesh were depressed due to a bumper harvest of the boro rice crop. Average paddy price was Tk 17.42 per kg in January 2019 after the aman harvest, but declined by 22 percent to Tk 13.56 per kg in May 2019 (DAM 2020). Farmers complained that they did not receive price support from the Government when paddy prices did not cover their prod...
The Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP), implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), designed and conducted a telephone survey to capture the effects of COVID-19 on farmers during the first five months after the coronavirus outbreak began in Bangladesh. This report provides the survey’s findings, with particular attention to access to credit and assistance and supply chain disruptions (e.g., labor shortages, access to agricultural inputs, selling prices of outputs, etc.).
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest has grown in what kinds of assistance protect household food security during shocks. We study rural and urban Bangladesh from 2018-19 to late 2021, assessing how pre-pandemic access to social safety net programs and private remittances relate to household food insecurity during the pandemic. Using longitudinal data and estimating differences-in-differences models with household fixed effects, we find that pre-pandemic access to social protection is associated with significant reductions in food insecurity in all rounds collected during the pandemic, particularly in our urban sample. However, pre-pandemic access to remittances shows no similar protective effect.
From December 6-10, 2020, USAID organized and IFPRI facilitated five virtual stakeholder consultation workshops on agricultural research and biotechnology, bringing together relevant stakeholders involved in crop and non-crop agriculture from Barishal, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka, Jashore, and Khulna districts in southern Bangladesh. This format aimed to capture the views and perceptions of a range of relevant actors on the status, opportunities and challenges, and recommendations for improving agricultural research and biotechnology. This report presents the subjective views of participants who are affected by and have a stake in these discussions, from value chain actors who have had challenges c...
On September 18, 2020, USAID requested IFPRI to conduct 15 stakeholder consultations on three thematic areas across five districts in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence (ZOI) and Zone of Resilience (ZOR): Barishal, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka, Jashore, and Khulna. The thematic areas are: (1) Increased Access to Finance, (2) Commercialization of Oilseeds and Pulses, and (3) Commercialization of Agricultural Research and Biotechnology. IFPRI agreed to conduct these stakeholder consultations and, on October 21, 2020, USAID approved IFPRI’s Commercialization of Oilseeds and Pulses concept note.
Bangladesh has extensive experience with targeted social safety net programs. Most of these programs are widely credited with providing the poor access to food and improving their livelihoods. However, the need for assistance is overwhelming. According to the latest poverty estimates, 24.3 percent of the country’s 163 million people were poor in 2016 (BBS 2019). Improving program targeting to reach the poorest of the poor effectively is needed to address the wide gap between the resources available for safety net programs and those in need of support. Targeting effectiveness indicates the extent to which program benefits are received by the neediest versus the less needy or non-needy popul...