25 research outputs found
Household shocks and consumption smoothing: Evidence from Northern Bangladesh
No full textPoor households in rural Bangladesh often face concurring idiosyncratic and aggregate shocks, which have adverse impacts on their income and consumption. In this study, we investigate the transmission channels, coping responses, and economic consequences of different shocks including idiosyncratic adverse health events and aggregate agricultural productivity shocks. We use a balance panel data of 5,655 rural households – interviewed every year between 2010 and 2013 – in northern Bangladesh. We estimate the effects of adverse health shocks on the consumption levels of the poor households in a multi-shock framework. We take advantage of the panel data and use fixed effect models to control for unobserved household-level confounders and potential endogeneity. We further examine effects of shocks to agricultural wages on consumption using rainfall as an instrument. We further carry out a number of robustness checks to understand how sensitive our models are to different alternate specifications. Results indicate that households smooth their consumption after experiencing adverse health shocks, with and without the parallel incidence of other types of shocks. Consumption smoothing occurs despite households experiencing a significant decrease of wage income, which is possibly driven by an increase in informal loans from village money lenders and households’ social networks. To evaluate the effect of a different type of income shock on consumption, we use rainfall as an exogenous instrument for agricultural income. Results indicate that while higher rainfall leads to a significant increase in agricultural income, it does not translate to higher food expenditure for households. Together, these findings offer suggestive evidence that, in this particular setting, households appear to smooth food consumption in the face of income shocks. Poor households rely on formal and informal, potentially costly channels and exploit existing social networks to insure themselves against adverse shocks. The findings highlight the importance of developing a better framework and a more effective implementation of equitable social safety net policies.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; DCAPHND; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
Landscape report on existing financial and logistic services in the agricultural sector in Bangladesh
No full textThe economy of Bangladesh is largely defined by the agricultural sector, which is reflected in its yearly GDP contribution of approximately 11% in the past few years (World Bank, 2022). The sector holds po tential for even higher contributions to the economy, provided effective initiatives related to financial in clusion and logistical innovations are implemented. Even during the immense global challenges during to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country’s agricultural sector persisted. Improving on traditional initiatives and practices to address constraints faced by farmers and other agricultural value chain actors will ena ble the sector to expand and benefit new sections of the population, including those most vulnerable such as the poor, women, and youth.
Many of the recent innovations in the agricultural sector in Bangladesh have been initiated by ‘AgriTech’ companies/start-ups in the space of financial and logistical services. Financial services are available for both small and large-scale agriculture operations in the country. Besides innovations in fi nancial services, there has been a burgeoning list of logistical services as well. Utilizing this wave of innovations appropriately can help the agricultural sector reach its full potential for success.
This report is arranged in the following manner. First section 1 discusses the traditional services in fi nancial and logistic sectors, and then section 2 discusses the existing constraints in both sectors. Sec tions 3 and 4 go into detail on financial and logistical innovations respectively that aim at addressing the discussed constraints. Both sections 3 and 4 have subsections giving a brief description of organiza tions that are behind these innovations.Non-PR4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; IFPRI1MTID; PHN
Agricultural adaptations to climate change in Bangladesh: Crop yield reductions and sustainable development implications
No full textAgricultural lands are vital to food security, which is imperative to the “no global hunger” objective of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Global food security is at risk from climatic change related increased temperatures, fluctuating precipitation levels, and greater frequency of extreme weather. Bangladesh’s low topography, high population density, high poverty levels, and economic dependency on agriculture indicates a higher vulnerability to climate change, despite the nation’s minimal greenhouse gas emissions. To examine these trends in Bangladesh, this research analyzes a survey of over 800 Bangladeshi farmers to understand how they experience and adapt to climate change. Through quantitative data collation and analysis, research illuminates that 90% of farmers reported changing their practices because they observed long-term shifts in climate. The majority of these farmers reported significant changes to important agricultural practices such as changing the variety of crop they produce, irrigating their farms more, and changing their fertilizer application. Analysis of this data in relation to
population vulnerability and the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals reveals which groups are most at risk of food insecurity and livelihood loss as Bangladesh experiences higher agricultural variability related to climatic change. Lessons learned from Bangladesh have global
implications, particularly for other developing countries experiencing agricultural transitions.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP7; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food SupplyPHNDCGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS
Business training and mentoring: Experimental evidence from women-owned microenterprises in Ethiopia
No full textPRIFPRI3; ISI; G Cross-cutting gender themePHN
Social and financial incentives for overcoming a collective action problem
No full textAddressing public health externalities often requires community-level collective action. Each person’s sanitation behavior can affect the health of neighbors. We report on a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted with 19,000 households in rural Bangladesh where we randomized (1) either group financial incentives or a non-financial “social recognition” reward, and (2) asking each household to make either a private pledge or a public pledge to maintain hygienic latrines. The group financial reward has the strongest impact in the short term (3 months), inducing a 7.5-12.5 percentage point increase in hygienic latrine ownership. Getting people to publicly commit to maintaining and using a hygienic latrine in front of their neighbors induced a 4.2-6.1 percentage point increase in hygienic latrine ownership in the short term. In the medium term (15 months), the effect of the financial reward dissipates while the effect of the public commitment persists. Neither social recognition nor private commitments produce effects statistically distinguishable from zero.Non-PRIFPRI5; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance;PHN
Social and financial incentives for overcoming a collective action problem
No full textAddressing public health externalities often requires community-level collective action. Due to social norms, each person’s sanitation investment decisions may depend on the decisions of neighbors. We report on a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted with 19,000 households in rural Bangladesh where we grouped neighboring households and introduced (either financial or social recognition) rewards with a joint liability component for the group, or asked each group member to make a private or public pledge to maintain a hygienic latrine. The group financial reward has the strongest impact in the short term (3 months), inducing a 7.5–12.5 percentage point increase in hygienic latrine ownership, but this effect dissipates in the medium term (15 months). In contrast, the public commitment induced a 4.2–6.3 percentage point increase in hygienic latrine ownership in the short term, but this effect persists in the medium term. Non-financial social recognition or a private pledge has no detectable effect on sanitation investments.PR5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; IFPRI3; ISIPoverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Virtual migration through online freelancing: Evidence from Bangladesh
No full textYouth unemployment is a major issue in many developing countries, particularly in locations not well connected with large urban markets. A limited number of available job opportunities in urban centres may reduce the benefit of policies that encourage rural–urban migration.
In this project, we investigated the feasibility of ‘virtual migration’ by training rural youth in Bangladesh to become online freelancers, enabling them to export their labour services to a global online marketplace. We did this by setting up a ‘freelancing incubator’, which provided the necessary workspace and infrastructure – specifically, high-speed internet connectivity and computers. Close mentoring was also provided to participants to assist in navigating the competitive online marketplace.
We show the exciting potential of online work for improving the incomes of poor youth in developing countries. We also highlight the constraints to this type of work: financing constraints for the high training cost, access to the necessary work infrastructure, and soft skills requirements to succeed in the market.
We also shed light on some promising possibilities for innovative financial contracts and for ‘freelancing incubators’ or ‘virtual exporting companies’ to assist students in their sourcing of work and skills development.Non-PRIFPRI5; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; Capacity StrengtheningPHN
Skin in the game: Microequity and mentorship for online freelancing-based microentrepreneurs in Bangladesh
No full textIn this pilot project, we demonstrate the exciting potential of online freelancing for improving the incomes of poor youth in rural Bangladesh. We also highlight the constraints to this type of work: financing constraints for the high training cost, access to the necessary work infrastructure, and soft skills requirements to success in the market. We shed light on some promising possibilities for innovative financing contracts and for ‘virtual exporting companies’ to act as freelancing incubators and assist students in their development.Non-PRIFPRI5; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; Capacity StrengtheningPHN
Household dairy production, dairy intake, and anthropometric outcomes in rural Bangladesh
No full textWe assess whether ownership of dairy cows is associated with a greater likelihood of consuming dairy products and with child anthropometric status in rural Bangladesh. Consistent with the assumption of imperfectly functioning markets for dairy products, ownership of dairy cows increases the likelihood that a child 6–59 months consumes milk by 7.7 percentage points with no difference in this association between boys and girls. This association nearly doubles in magnitude when we consider households that own a dairy cow that produced milk in the last year. This result is robust to the controls we use and the way in which we measure dairy cow ownership. Even when we saturate our model with child, maternal, household, wealth, as well as village fixed effects, we retain an association between dairy cow ownership and height-for-age z scores (HAZ) that is meaningful in magnitude – 0.13 standard deviations – and statistically significant at the one percent level. For children in the 12–23.9 month age group, ownership of a dairy cow is associated with a 0.37 SD increase in HAZ and a reduction of 11.3 percentage points in stunting. There is no statistically significant association with weight-for-height or wasting. These associations do not differ between boys and girls.PRIFPRI3; ISI; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; Advancing Research on Nutrition and Agriculture (ARENA)Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Women's empowerment and the intrinsic demand for agency: Experimental evidence from Nigeria
No full textMost studies of intrahousehold resource allocation examine outcomes and do not consider the decision-making process by which those outcomes are achieved. 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 consultation, communication, deferral, 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 budget allocation decisions to their husband even when deferral is costly and is not observed by the husband; the reverse is true for men. Our study follows a randomized controlled trial that ended a year earlier and gave large cash transfers over fifteen months to half of the women in the study. We estimate the effect of treatment on the demand for agency among women and find that the receipt of cash transfers does not change women's bargaining process except in a secret condition when the decision to defer is shrouded from her husband: only in that case does the cash transfer increase women's expressed demand for agency.Non-PRIFPRI5; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; G Cross-cutting gender themePHN
