Bangladesh has great potential for agriculture-led growth and food security. Nearly half of all Bangladeshis are employed in agriculture and a large majority of the rural population is involved in fisheries. Poverty was halved between 2000 and 2016, from approximately 49 percent to approximately 24 percent. To continue this progress, Feed the Future programs in Bangladesh aim to support inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led growth, strengthen resilience, and enhance private sector competitiveness.
715THOUSAND
Producers using new technologies and practices with Feed the Future’s help in FY18
$226MILLION
Annual agricultural sales generated by Bangladeshi farms and firms reached by Feed the Future in FY18
1MILLION
Children under 5 reached with nutrition help in FY18
161THOUSAND
Hectares tended with improved technologies or management practices in FY18
16PERCENT
Reduction in the prevalence of poverty in the areas where Feed the Future has worked since 2011
12.4PERCENT
Reduction in the prevalence of stunting in children under the age of 5 in the areas where Feed the Future has worked since 2011
Key Achievements
In 2018, Feed the Future activities helped more than 700,000 farmers to increase their production of food, commercial crops, fish, and livestock, gain access to markets, and improve the nutrition of their families. Approximately 161,000 hectares of land were tended with improved technologies and management practices.
In collaboration with Cornell University and other partners in late 2017, Feed the Future introduced the Bt eggplant variety in northwest Bangladesh, which helped to reduce pest infestation by 95 percent and the use of toxic pesticides by 56 percent. By the 2018 harvest season, Farmers growing the Bt eggplant variety also saw a 42 percent increase in yields and a $400 increase in profits per hectare.
Empowering women benefits both households and communities and is an important source of resilience in Bangladesh. Since 2014, in areas where Feed the Future has worked with the Government of Bangladesh and local partners to increase Bangladeshi women’s access to training, technology, and childcare, more than 500,000 more women own assets, 800,000 more women have greater control over their income, and 1.2 million more women have greater input into productive decisions.
Source
These results reflect data from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Department of the Treasury (through the International Fund for Agricultural Development and Global Agriculture and Food Security Program), reported into Feed the Future’s central monitoring system for fiscal year 2018 (FY18). Impact data for poverty statistics come from a 2015 population-based survey by the International Food Policy Research Institute. Impact data for stunting statistics are derived from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Impact data for women’s empowerment come from the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) for 2018. For more information on the indicators above, please view the Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. All dollar amounts are listed in U.S. dollars.
Enhance the government’s policy and planning capacity
Elevate the private sector’s agriculture innovation capacity
Scale proven technologies to smallholder farmers
Promote gender integration in agriculture and increase women’s empowerment
Coordinate and collaborate with other U.S. Government initiatives in the country
Photo by Aquaculture Project
Zones of Influence in Bangladesh
21 districts in the Southern Delta region
Background Stats
28.4MILLION
Number of people living in Feed the Future target regions in Bangladesh (Feed the Future Survey, 2015)
7.9MILLION
Annual GDP growth; agriculture accounts for 13.1 Percent of added value (World Bank, 2018)
63PERCENT
Percentage of population living in rural Bangladesh (World Bank, 2018)
36.1PERCENT
Percentage of stunted children under the age of 5 (World Bank, 2014)
34PERCENT
Percentage of people living in poverty in Feed the Future target regions in 2015
Value Chains
Rice
Horticulture
Fisheries
Photo by Lindsay Seuc
Approach
Bangladesh is the world’s most densely populated country, with 161 million people living in a land area roughly the size of Iowa. Poverty, lack of access to agricultural land, and poor eating habits contribute to some of the highest rates of undernutrition and child stunting in the world. In addition to population growth, urbanization and natural resource depletion have led to the degradation of Bangladesh’s land and bodies of water, which poses a great threat to its agriculture sector.
In Bangladesh, Feed the Future investments target areas vulnerable to water scarcity, rising sea levels, extreme shocks, and changing weather patterns to maximize impact and strengthen resilience. Consistent with the Government of Bangladesh’s priorities, Feed the Future focuses on increasing rice production while helping farmers diversify their production with higher-value, nutrient-dense commodities such as fruits and vegetables and fish.
Gender issues further complicate food insecurity and undernutrition. Women are heavily engaged in agriculture but do not have equal access to extension services or other agro-inputs like seeds and fertilizer. By collaborating with the Government of Bangladesh, Feed the Future is working to increase women’s access to agriculture and nutrition training, seeds and fertilizer, farming technology, and childcare. These efforts aim to reduce food insecurity, undernutrition, and household-level gender inequalities. For example, 88 percent of children under 5 receive vitamin A supplements twice a year through government-led campaigns. Empowering women and implementing successful nutrition projects have helped to decrease the under-5 mortality rate by more than 50 percent since 1993. Overall, poverty and child stunting have dropped in areas where Feed the Future works.
Private sector engagement is another major focus in Bangladesh. Since 2018, Feed the Future has partnered with 11 companies and supported business connections between private companies and farmers to produce crops like mung beans, maize, and sesame. Feed the Future has also unlocked long-term private sector investment worth $14.1 million. Private sector engagement efforts like these promote robust agribusiness development, which plays a critical role in diversifying and strengthening food sources as well as providing economic opportunities for Bangladeshis.
Activities
Feed the Future supports the following programs, partnerships and organizations in Bangladesh.
Abiotic Stress Tolerant Rice and Wheat
Accelerating Capacity for Monitoring and Evaluation (ACME)
Agricultural Value Chains (AVC)
Agriculture Infrastructure Development with Local Government Engineering Department
Agriculture Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA MI)
Agricultural Biotechnology Partnership – Eggplant
Agricultural Biotechnology Partnership – Potato
Bangladesh Aquaculture and Nutrition Activity
Borlaug Higher Education Agricultural Research and Development (BHEARD) Program
Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Activity (BTFA)
Bangladesh Food Safety Activity
Feed the Future Bangladesh Nutrition Activity
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Aquaculture and Fisheries
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Integrated Pest Management
Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Improving Nutrition using Community-Based Approaches (INCA)
Livestock Production for Improved Nutrition
Loan Portfolio Guarantee Program
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Activity
Meeting the Undernutrition Challenge (MUCH)
National Agricultural Technology Project II
Policy Research and Strategy Support Program for Food Security and Agricultural Development in Bangladesh (PRSSP)
Rice and Diversified Crops (RDC)
Risk Management for Food Security in Bangladesh – Sanitary and Phytosanitary Food Safety Project
South Asia Biosafety Program
Social and Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) Activity
