Agriculture and Nutrition in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Although much work has been done on the theoretical links between agriculture and nutrition, there is limited understanding of the evidence from observational and experimental research studies on the impacts of agriculture programs on nutrition outcomes. Objective: To assess the emphasis of the literature on different agriculture-nutrition pathways in Bangladesh. Methods: Twenty databases and Web sites were searched, yielding more than 2400 resources that were pared down through an iterative, eliminative process to 60 articles. These articles were then rated for quality and mapped to 1 of the 6 agriculture-nutrition pathways. Results: The body of evidence reveals gaps in knowledge in all of the pathways, but especially in the areas of agriculture as a source of livelihoods, and women's role as intermediaries between agriculture and good nutrition and health within their household. Conclusion: More research is needed on the links between agriculture and nutrition in countryspecific settings, particularly as regards the role of women. Nutrition-related outcomes, such as dietary diversity and women's empowerment, need to be measured more explicitly when evaluating the impact of agricultural production systems and development initiatives.

Impacts of Climate Change on Crop Production in Bangladesh: A Review

“…leads to a warming of the earth that is known as 'Global Warming'. Extreme weather events, rising sea level, melting of glaciers and seaice, damage coral, changes in wildlife distribution and health, abundance of disease vectors, agricultural and public health damage are very common result of global warming [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]13]. Besides adverse impact on agriculture, rising CO 2 could cut down the protein content of cereal, for instances, the protein contents of rice, wheat, barley and potato would be decreased by 7.6%, 7.8%.…”

“…In recent years, Bangladesh achieved enormous success in economic growth and poverty reduction, where, poverty has been reduced almost 26% from 1991 to 2010 [11][12][13]. Agriculture has been playing the dominant sector for economic growth for a long [14,15].…”

Crop abiotic stresses and nutrition of harvested food crops: A Review of impacts, interventions and their effectiveness

“…Moreover, in developing countries, limited and subsistence investments in the agricultural sector imply that most agricultural produce are primarily used for food on a household, communal and national level. Thus, a number of pathways are currently known, describing the synergy between agriculture and nutrition (Yosef et al, 2015;Kadiyala et al, 2014). Yosef et al (2015), in their study reviewing 60 articles summarized a total of 6 pathways, while Haddad et al 2013summarized only 5, yet more or less identical to Yosef et al (2015) ( Table 1).…”

“…Another key pathway links agriculture with nutrition as an Income-Oriented production, which produces surplus for sale. The market-oriented agriculture becomes more (Yosef et al, 2015). Marketing issues such as tradability, demand and supply, comparative advantage and prices inform households' decisions on crop choices (World Bank, 2007).…”

Nutrition‐sensitive agricultural interventions and gender dynamics: A qualitative study in Nepal

“…Current evidence suggest that multi‐sectoral approaches, including nutrition‐sensitive agricultural development, are needed for further reductions in undernutrition (Black et al, ; Food and Agriculture Organization, ). Recent reviews have identified diverse factors that enhance or impede nutritional gain from agricultural investments and classified these into six pathways for how agriculture to nutrition pathways operate in South Asia specifically: (a) agricultural production for own consumption, (b) agricultural production to sell for income gain, (c) agricultural policies and food prices that influence production and technology decisions, (d) agricultural production as a means of empowering women farmers, (e) agricultural labour and related time requirements which trade‐off with childcare practices, (f) agricultural labour and associated risks for women farmers, which can contribute to intergenerational undernutrition (Kadiyala, Harris, Headey, Yosef & Gillespie, , ; Yosef, Jones, Chakraborty, & Gillespie, ). Although each of these six pathways plays out differently for men and women, the last three pathways explicitly focus on the gendered dimensions of agriculture to nutrition linkages.…”