Rural Non-Farm Economy in Bangladesh: A View from Household Surveys

This paper was presented at the dialogue on Promoting Rural Non-farm Economy: Is Bangladesh Doing Enough? The paper presents the findings of the surveys, conducted in 1987 and 2000, on the importance of the rural non-farm activities as a source of rural development and factors affecting participation in it. It estimates the duration of employment and the level of productivity, to examine whether the expansion of the rural non-farm economy (RFNE) is caused by "push" or "pull" factors. It also assesses whether access to capital is a constraint to expansion of RFNE. It analyzes the expenditure pattern of rural and urban households to assess the demand for nonfarm goods and services. It provides an overview of strategies and policies for the development of the rural non-farm sector. Finally, the study highlights the actions required for promotion of the rural non-farm economy of Bangladesh. Nature and Impact of Women's Participation in Economic Activities in Rural Bangladesh: Insights from Household Surveys.Economy Bangladesh

Technological Progress for Sustaining Food-Population Balance: Achievement and Challenges

Food Security and Poverty, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Reaching the Poor with Effective Microcredit: Evaluation of a Grameen Bank Replication in the Philippines

Credit provision for small and poor households has always been the major element of nongovernment organizations in alleviating poverty. Recently, there has been a move to replicate the Bangladesh Grameen Bank in the Philippines known as Landless People’s Development Fund. This paper assesses its financial viability at the borrower’s level. The institution’s sustainability is also investigated in terms of sources and fund utilization, administration costs and other branches of financial viability.financial market, poverty alleviation, land management, financial sector, poverty, financial services, credit access

Nature and Impact of Women’s Participation in Economic Activities in Rural Bangladesh: Insights from Household Surveys

This paper has been prepared as part of CPD's ongoing agricultural policy research. The paper was presented at the dialogue on Women's Contribution to Rural Economic Activities: Making the Invisible Visible. It presents some empirical evidences of recent changes in gender roles in economic activities, and impact of women's participation on their empowerment and the socioeconomic conditions of the household. The information presented in this paper comes mostly from analysis of gender-specific (male and female) survey data at two points of time, i.e., 1987 and 2000. The surveys covered samples from 62 villages from 57 districts.Women, Bangladesh

Trade Liberalisation and the Crop Sector in Bangladesh

The paper presents a comparative picture of the cost of production and prices of major crop sector outputs, and presents an assessment of India’s agriculture trade policies. Data and analyses presented in this paper will be useful in designing appropriate policies for protecting the interests of the vast majority of low-income consumers and farm producers in the country in the context of trade liberalisation policy pursued by Bangladesh.Trade Liberalisation, Crop, International Trade, Bangladesh

Reaching the Poor with Effective Microcredit: Evaluation of a Grameen Bank Replication in the Philippines

Credit provision for small and poor households has always been the major element of nongovernment organizations in alleviating poverty. Recently, there has been a move to replicate the Bangladesh Grameen Bank in the Philippines known as Landless People’s Development Fund. This paper assesses its financial viability at the borrower’s level. The institution’s sustainability is also investigated in terms of sources and fund utilization, administration costs and other branches of financial viability.financial market, poverty alleviation, land management, financial sector, poverty, financial services, credit access

Nature and impact of the Green Revolution in Bangladesh:

Agriculture Economic aspects Bangladesh., Agricultural innovations Economic aspects Bangladesh., Green Revolution Bangladesh.,

Food Security and Nutrition in Bangladesh: Progress and Determinants

For Bangladesh food security was synonymous with achieving self-sufficiency in rice production and stabilization in rice prices. The country has made good progress in increasing rice production through technological progress, facilitated by private sector investment in small scale irrigation. But, it is difficult to sustain the progress made in view of the growing pressure of population on scarce land resources. Domestic food grain production remains susceptible to floods and droughts thereby perpetuating the threat of major production shortfalls, inadequate food availability, and vulnerability from fluctuation in prices. The availability of other foods has not increased, and the progress in nutritional outcome has remained slow. Forty percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and income inequality has been worsening. This paper assesses the trends in factors that affect food production, availability of food and their impact on nutrition outcomes. It also probes into the trends in poverty and distribution of income and access to food through markets.Bangladesh, food security, nutrition, poverty, safety nets, natural disasters, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

Agricultural Growth Accounting and Total Factor Productivity in South Asia: A Review and Policy Implications

Productivity growth in agriculture is essential for the development of the sector. This paper has reviewed the developments in agricultural productivity related to the South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The TFP growth and its contribution in production growth have been summarised for South Asia over the past three decades. Crop-specific TFP growth figures have been updated for India by using more recent micro farm level data for three decades. A discussion and synthesis on changes in TFP and its sources of growth for the major crops, major crop systems, crops and livestock sectors for the countries of South Asia have also been presented. Methodological framework for computation of TFP and its growth has also been presented. Policies towards food-secure South Asia have been outlined under the sub-heads (i) Arresting deceleration in total factor productivity, (ii) Enhancing yield of major commodities, (iii) Accent on empowering the small farmers, (iv) Environment protection, and (v) Strengthening of national agricultural research system. This paper would provide useful information to the people interested in doing research on these issues. Some of the concerns raised in this paper on productivity would provide direction for future research in this area.Productivity Analysis,