The Importance of Nutrition Education in Achieving Food Security and Adequate Nutrition of the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh*

Abstract

Nutrition-sensitive social protection that enhances household resources and nutrition knowledge can be an important avenue of addressing food security and nutrition concerns of the poor. This paper studies the impact of a cluster randomized intervention of cash or food transfers, with-or-without nutrition behavioural change communication (BCC), on food security and nutrition outcomes in rural Bangladesh. We find that the addition of the BCC to transfers led to the greatest impact on the quantity and quality of food consumed by household members, especially women and children. The addition of BCC also had the greatest impact in reducing the incidence and intensity of deprivations measured using a nutrition-sensitive multidimensional poverty index. Evidence suggests this occurs through the BCC inducing increased consumption of flesh food, egg, dairy, fruits and vegetables and through investments in housing, sanitation and assets.

The roles of community nutrition scholars in changing mothers' child feeding, food preparation, and hygiene practices in southern Bangladesh

“…Women are targeted for this initiative as they have relative autonomy in managing homestead gardens (20)(21)(22). Other studies suggest that nutrition education, provided to women with young children, can result in behavior changes in feeding practices, leading to improved food intake among young children (23)(24)(25).…”

Locking down adolescent hunger: COVID‐19 and food security in Bangladesh

“…Failure of large transfer programs like the Food Friendly Program to adequately adapt to unanticipated shocks like COVID‐19 has a direct bearing on the food security of millions of vulnerable households (Chowdhury et al, 2021). Social protection transfer programs in Bangladesh are predominantly food‐based (Tauseef, 2022), and, with cash transfer programs gaining in popularity globally for timeliness of delivery and cost savings (Gentilini, 2016), it may be time for Bangladesh to diversify into such programs to mitigate the impact of major shocks. Taking such steps would not only help the country overcome the immediate woes of the COVID‐19 crisis, but also mitigate the potential impacts of future shocks on people's livelihoods.…”