Akhter Ahmed

International Food Policy Research Institute · International Food Policy Research Institute

This paper analyses poverty dynamics in rural Bangladesh using a nationally representative panel dataset of 5,020 rural households interviewed in 2011/12, 2015, and 2019. Findings show that education, savings, assets, international remittance, non-farm employment, substantial safety net transfers, and women’s empowerment are key factors in breaking...

Transfer programs have been shown to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV), but little evidence exists on how activities linked to transfers affect IPV or what happens when programs end. We assess postprogram impacts on IPV of randomly assigning women in Bangladesh to receive cash or food, with or without nutrition behavior change communication (B...

This article examines the relationship between empowerment gaps between spouses and children's nutritional status and education using nationally‐representative data from the 2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey. We measure relative empowerment of spouses using the recently‐developed Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index. We find that whil...

Objective To examine the impact of a nutrition-sensitive social protection intervention on mothers’ knowledge of Fe deficiency, awareness of multiple-micronutrient powders (MMP) and the consumption of MMP and other Fe supplements by their children aged 6–59 months. Design Two randomized controlled trials with treatment arms including cash transfer...

Table S1: Infant and Young Child Nutrition Knowledge Questions, Responses, and Correct Answers

Behaviour change communication (BCC) can improve infant and young child nutrition (IYCN) knowledge, practices, and health outcomes. However, few studies have examined whether the improved knowledge persists after BCC activities end. This paper assesses the effect of nutrition sensitive social protection interventions on IYCN knowledge in rural Bang...

Objective: To examine the impact on infant and young child nutrition knowledge and practice of mothers who were neighbors of mothers participating in a nutrition Behavior Change Communication (BCC) intervention in rural Bangladesh. Methods: We analyzed data from 300 mothers whose neighbor participated in a nutrition BCC intervention and 600 moth...

The study has produced a single, powerful finding: the fish value chain in Bangladesh is growing and transforming very rapidly, in all segments. (1) The quiet revolution in the fish value chain is a domestic market revolution: 94% of aquaculture production is destined for domestic consumption. (2) The farmed fish market grew by a factor of 25 times...

An independent review commissioned by the UN World Food Programme.

http://inm.org.bd/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Rural-Mechanisation_Final.pdf

This chapter presents results of analyses of survey-based data on the rate of adoption of modern stress-tolerant rice varieties by the beneficiary farmers of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and compares that with non-CSISA rice farmers who cultivated the CSISA-promoted rice varieties. The study reveals that the adoption of such...

Green Revolution technologies transformed Bangladesh’s agricultural system through the introduction of high-yielding rice and wheat varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and the expansion of tubewell-irrigated area, enabling crop production during the dry season. However, serious challenges continue to plague the agriculture sector, inclu...

PowerPoint Presentation at a seminar on "Which Kinds of Social Safety Net Transfers Work Best for the Rural Ultra Poor?" held on May 26, 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Using data from multiple sources, we show that the real wages in Bangladesh, particularly in rural areas and for female workers, have accelerated in recent years. Real wage escalation is likely the result of a combination of more job opportunities in the nonfarm sector, especially in the manufacturing sector, and a greater inflow of remittances, pr...

Using a nationally representative survey from Bangladesh, the paper presents how a recently developed index, Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), can be used to assess the extent of women's empowerment in agriculture and diagnose areas where gaps in empowerment exist so that programmes and policies can be targeted to those areas. While...

Using a nationally representative survey from Bangladesh, we examine the relationship between women’s empowerment in agriculture, measured using the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, and per capita calorie availability, dietary diversity, and adult body mass index (BMI). Accounting for potential endogeneity of empowerment, we find that incr...

This chapter provides a global quantitative perspective on where the world’s poor and particularly the poorest live, and the extent of progress made in the reduction of income poverty close to and far below the international poverty line (US$1.25/day per capita) over the past two decades. The characteristics of the ultra-poor are identified based o...

From early July to August 18, 2013, the market prices of onion rose dramatically in Bangladesh. Although prices showed a downward trend at the end of August and early September, they have begun to rise again. What caused this sudden onion price surge? The International Food Policy Research Institute's evaluation identified a variety of linked facto...

This study was conducted with financial support from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The views and opinions contained in the report are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by...

This report has not been subject to a formal external review via IFPRI's Publications Review Committee. The report is circulated in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The views and opinions contained in the report are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by IFPRI or USAID.

Using data from multiple sources, we show that in Bangladesh, the increase in real wages, particularly female wages, has accelerated since the late 2000s, suggesting that the Lewis turning point (the point at which the labor market starts to shift in favor of workers) has arrived in Bangladesh. Rising wages are likely a result of a combination of m...

Maternal and child under-nutrition is a direct and indirect cause of millions of childhood deaths and other adverse health outcomes annually. Undernourished children are more likely than well-nourished children to die before age five, and those that survive face long term negative impacts on mental and physical well-being. Best practices in nutriti...

This paper reviews the background and history of agricultural technology interventions and the policy processes underlying food-based and cash-based education incentive programmes in Bangladesh, their targeting mechanisms and performance, and their evolution over time. The study reviews similarities and differences among these anti-poverty interven...

This study attempts to provide an understanding of how the process of institutional change influences the outcomes of interventions. To better understand the context in which these interventions took place, the study examines the institutional aspects of new agricultural technology interventions and the policy processes of food- and cash-based educ...

The Yellow River basin is a key food production centre of global importance facing rapidly growing water scarcity. Water availability for agriculture in the basin is threatened by rapid growth in the demand for industrial and urban water, the need to flush sediment from the river’s lower reaches, environmental demands and growing water pollution. C...

International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. Report Number 18. Prepared in association with Data Analysis and Technical Assistance Limited for CARE, Bangladesh

"Bangladesh has some social safety net programs that transfer food to the poor, some that transfer cash, and some that provide a combination of both. This study evaluates the relative impacts of food and cash transfers on food security and livelihood outcomes among the ultra poor in Bangladesh. The programs impacts are evaluated according to variou...

This paper examines the recent decentralization of governance in Indonesia and its impact on local infrastructure provision. The decentralization of decisionmaking power to local jurisdictions in Indonesia may have improved the matching of public infrastructures provision with local preferences. However, decentralization has made local public infra...

"The complex causes of the current food and agriculture crisis require a comprehensive response. In view of the urgency of assisting people and countries in need, the first set of policy actions— an emergency package—consists of steps that can yield immediate impact: 1. expand emergency responses and humanitarian assistance to food-insecure people...

"La complexit� des causes de la crise actuelle en mati�re d'alimentation et d'agriculture exige une r�ponse exhaustive. Compte tenu de l'urgence de l'aide � apporter aux personnes et aux pays dans le besoin, le premier ensemble d'actions strat�giques (train d'actions d'urgence) comprend des interventions qui peuvent avoir un impact imm�diat : 1. �t...

"Die vielschichtigen Ursachen der gegenwärtigen Krise im Bereich der Nahrungsmittelproduktion und Landwirtschaft erfordern eine umfassende globale Antwort. Angesichts der dringend benötigen Hilfe besteht der erste Maßnahmenkatalog – ein Notfallpaket – aus Programmen, die sofort wirken: 1. Ausweiten der Soforthilfe und der humanitären Unterstützung...

"La complejidad de las causas de la actual crisis alimentaria y agrícola requiere de una respuesta integral. En vista de que es urgente prestar asistencia a las poblaciones y los países necesitados, la primera serie de acciones de política —un paquete de emergencia— consiste en varios pasos para generar un impacto inmediato: 1. Incrementar las acci...

The paper reviews the results of Food for Education programs and presents a case study of the Bangladesh Food for Education interventions.

This paper investigates and estimates the welfare loss due to monopoly in tubewell irrigation water market in Bangladesh. In this context, an attempt has been made to evaluate the efficacy of the landless irrigation groups. Using cross-sectional data and regression analysis, cost and demand functions for irrigation water are estimated. The study de...

T oday there are about 1 billion extremely poor people in the developing world who subsist on less than a dollar a day. 1 Of those, half a billion live on less than 75 cents a day, and 162 million live on less than 50 cents a day. 2 More than 800 million people cannot afford to meet their minimum calorie requirements. Chronically underfed and large...

Bangladesh’s Food for Education Program (FFE), which provided free food to poor families if their children attended primary school, was successful in increasing children’s school enrollment, especially for girls. However, this success came at a price as class sizes increased. This paper uses a rich data set that includes school achievement test sco...

This paper discusses how to incorporate questions about crime into household surveys, drawing on the author's experience of designing and implementing a module on crime, violence and physical insecurity in a household survey in the city of Dinajpur in Bangladesh in 2002. The paper discusses issues of design, such as determining survey objectives an...

"In Africa and elsewhere, safety nets were promoted in the 1980s as a response to the (presumably short-term) adverse effects of structural adjustment. Though some safety nets had a developmental component, safety nets are still largely associated with the idea of a short-term buffer. “Social protection” is a newer term that incorporates safety net...

"The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) conducted a comprehensive study of the efficiency of food distribution in food aid-supported programs in Bangladesh. The capacity and efficiency of the food distribution system was assessed from entry ports to targeted beneficiaries. The study identified problems in the whole food distributi...

The estimated average leakage in the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme due to short ration and undercoverage is 8 percent of the total wheat allotment. These losses are low by international and Bangladesh standards, and are due, in part, to monitoring and evaluation throughout the system and women's empowerment at the union level to hold...

In Bangladesh, pervasive poverty has kept generations of families from sending their children to school, and without education, their children's future will be a distressing echo of their own. Many children from poor families in Bangladesh do not attend school either because their families cannot afford books and other school materials, or because...

for useful comments and for supplying us with reference materials, Yisgedu Amde and Sanjukta Mukherjee for helpful research assistance and Manorama Rani for document processing. We also thank seminar participants at IFPRI, the World Bank and participants at the following conferences, "Chronic poverty and development policy", University of Mancheste...

In Bangladesh, pervasive poverty has kept generations of families from sending their children to school, and without education, their childrens future will be a distressing echo of their own. Many children from poor families in Bangladesh do not attend school either because their families cannot afford books and other school materials, or because t...

This paper uses a panel data of 347 households in Egypt to measure changes in household consumption during 1997–99 and to identify causes behind the changes. Per capita consumption has decreased for the households during this time. The decrease has not been dramatic, but it has occurred at all points along the distribution. Over the two-year period...

The concern that learning performance may be adversely affected by increased class size appears to be unfounded. But unchecked, the negative peer effect could hinder student achievement.

Egypt's food subsidy system has been a mainstay of the government's long-term policy of promoting social equity and political stability. It has also been a major component of the social safety net for the poor, guaranteeing the availability of affordable staples, helping to reduce infant mortality and malnutrition, and mitigating the adverse effect...

Table of Contents: Tables, Figures, Foreword, Acknowledgments, and Summary; 1. Introduction; 2. Determinants of the Placement and Outreach of Group-Based Financial Institutions:A County-Level Analysis; 3. Group-Based Financial Institutions:Structure, Conduct, and Performance; 4. Household Participation in Financial Markets; 5. Analysis of the House...

Despite achieving a significant cost reduction over the past two decades, the absolute cost of food subsidies in Egypt is still high relative to the benefits received by the poor. There is scope for better targeting these food subsidies, in particular for targeting cooking oil and sugar ration cards, both because reforms in this area are perceived...

This paper uses a panel data of 347 households in Egypt to measure changes in household consumption between 1997 and 1999 and to identify causes behind the changes. Per capita consumption decreased for the households during this time and, while not dramatic, it occurred at all points along the distribution. Over the two-year period, the number of h...

The Government of Bangladesh launched the innovative Food for Education (FFE) program in 1993. The FFE program provides a free monthly ration of rice or wheat to poor families if their children attend primary school. The goals of this program are to increase primary school enrollment, promote attendance, reduce dropout rates, and enhance the qualit...

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Egyptian labor market is moving from a period of high overall unemployment to one where unemployment is increasingly concentrated among specific groups whose access to the private-sector labor market is limited. Educated young women are more adversely affected than their male counterparts by the transition to a private-sector-led economy. There is...

In the past two decades, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh have provided millions of poor rural people with savings and credit services at low cost. With these services, they have reduced poverty, improved food security and nutrition, and achieved positive social change as well. These NGOs have different structures, modes of operat...

ABSTRACT The objective of IFPRI's multicountry research program,on rural financial policies for food security of the poor is to identify policies and institutional arrangements,that help the poor integrate themselves into sustainable savings and credit systems such that they have an increased capacity to invest, bear risk, and smooth,consumption. T...

Egyptian labor market is moving from a period of high overall unemployment to one where unemployment is increasingly concentrated among specific groups whose access to the private-sector labor market is limited. Educated young women are more adversely affected than their male counterparts by the transition to a private-sector-led economy. There is...

To ease transitional problems during stabilization and structural reform and to protect the well-being of the poor, the Government of the Philippines have focussed on three major 'safety net' programs. Although substantial resources have been devoted to theses programs, few studies have been devoted to these programs, few studies have reviewed thei...

This paper provides a survey on studies that analyze the macroeconomic effects of intellectual property rights (IPR). The first part of this paper introduces different patent policy instruments and reviews their effects on R&D and economic growth. This part also discusses the distortionary effects and distributional consequences of IPR protection a...

This paper evaluates the welfare implications of the irrigation-induced technological change in rice production, based on the conceptual framework of Hayami and Herdt and using a modified formulation of the problem. The analytical model used incorporates demand and supply shifts, provides exact measures of changes in consumers' and producers' surpl...

This article, using the methodology developed by Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke to measure and decompose poverty, provides estimates of the levels of poverty in rural and urban areas in Bangladesh. It investigates in the context of Bangladesh, the most powerful effect of poverty in terms of a shortfall in food for daily calorie intake by the poor. It...