Diversification in Bangladesh : from on-farm, income and food consumption perspectives
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The objectives of this thesis were to make a systematic and detailed analysis of the diversification of farm households in Bangladesh. The thesis, based on three articles, applied data from a survey of 260 farm households in the central, northern, and southwest regions of Bangladesh. The first, second and third papers highlighted on-farm diversification, income diversification and the relationship between farm and food consumption diversification respectively. The first article identified the factors influencing on-farm diversification and, in doing the analysis, the paper compares farm households highly specialized in rice cultivation with more diversified farm households. Results revealed that the age of the head of the household, technical assistance, farm size, access to markets, access to credit and regional dummies are the main determinants of on-farm diversification. The active participation of women in farming activities was a noteworthy determinant that was found to increase diversification in Bangladesh. The second article investigated the determinants and purpose of income diversification in Bangladesh. The findings showed that the extent of the overall diversification was determined by household endowments of assets such as wealth, higher education, easy access to market, more earners, better infrastructure, and its purpose was accumulation of wealth. However, farm households are involuntarily pushed into off-farm wage diversification for survival, and off-farm self-employment diversification is chosen as an accumulation strategy to capture higher return opportunities. This study pointed out that diversification is linked to agriculture rather than being a condition of departing from it. Article 3 linked the research gap through presenting empirical evidence on the effect of diversification on household food security in the Bangladeshi context. The study found that diversification positively influences food security, especially from the food consumption diversity viewpoint. Importantly, this suggests that special focus is required on diversified multiple crop and non-crop production and moving out of pure rice cultivation. Moreover, formulating policies that emphasize investment in infrastructure, electrification, and education to facilitate diversification and enhance household food security has been recommended.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Sheikh Feroze Rehan
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3040785748