Impact of the Community‐based Fish Culture System on Expenditure and Inequality: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of a Community‐based Fish Culture (CBFC) system on household expenditure and how expenditure inequality in the fish‐producing communities has changed due to involvement in the CBFC system. Six floodplains, comprising three project sites and three controls, were chosen from three river basin areas of Bangladesh; data for this study were collected for a period of 3 yr. A propensity score matching method was used to evaluate the impact of CBFC on household expenditure; while a Gini coefficient and Gini decomposition were used to estimate inequality. The results show that the CBFC system has a positive and significant impact on fish culture community household expenditure. Results also reveal that the CBFC system has an equalization effect on food, clothing, and healthcare expenditure. Furthermore, this management system helps to distribute total expenditure 15% more equally among the fish culture communities.

Maintaining Diversity of Integrated Rice and Fish Production Confers Adaptability of Food Systems to Global Change

“…The suite of production practices represented in the RFPP typology allow for continued testing and refining of innovations to further improve nutrition, equity, and environmental outcomes. The innovations emerging from RFPPs demonstrate gains or promise in enhancing management of landscape connectivity (in the Mekong Delta; Joffre et al, 2018;Nguyen et al, 2020), equity and inclusivity (in Bangladesh; Haque and Dey, 2016), and enabling adaptation in the face of changing environmental and sociopolitical conditions (in Myanmar; Dubois et al, 2019). Even for the long-standing rice field fisheries in Cambodia, innovation and research have enabled adaptation to the contemporary agricultural, ecological, and institutional context (Kim et al, 2019).…”

“…When managed inclusively, employment opportunities are generated and fishers gain additional fishing opportunity for up to 6 months each year (Haque and Dey, 2017). Successful examples have demonstrated that community based fisheries and aquaculture increased expenditure equality by 15% among community participants (Haque and Dey, 2016). In addition, the increased fish production bolstered fish consumption, especially for landless non-fishers (33% increase in annual per capita fish consumption) and improved household incomes from fish by a factor of 3.7 (Haque and Dey, 2017).…”

Fishery culture, sustainable resources usage and transformations needed for local community development: the case of Aral Sea

“…The connection between community and fishery culture goes beyond economic considerations (Haque and Dey, 2016). Fishery not only provides economic resources needed for many community members, but also serves as a source of social cohesion (Basavakumar et al, 2011).…”

Societal and Economic Impacts of Aquaculture

“…Recently, articles related to economic aspects of aquaculture (Tokunaga et al ; Dresdner and Estay ; Huang et al ; Kumar et al ; Hernandez et al ) have been published in the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society . These have principally focused on production economics; only one addressed social welfare associated with aquaculture from the perspective of effects on income inequality (Haque and Dey ). Remaining important questions that warrant investigation may include: Which infrastructures benefit from the presence of aquaculture in a region and which do not?…”