Bangladesh has great potential for agriculture-led growth and food security. Rice production has tripled over the last 30 years. The extreme ($1.25 per day) poverty rate fell from about 59 percent in 2000 to about 43 percent in 2010. Forty-eight percent of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector and a large majority of the rural population is involved in fisheries.
Feed the Future helped more than 2.4 million farmers and other producers applied new technologies and management practices for the first time. Additionally, Feed the Future-supported farmers and producers increased the value of their agricultural product sales by more than $321 million.
Feed the Future also leveraged nearly $685,000 in new private investment in food and agriculture in Bangladesh. With the initiative’s help, producers applied improved technologies and management practices on nearly 392,000 hectares of land. Also, through efforts like Feed the Future, the U.S. Government reached nearly 1.1 million children under 5 years old to improve their nutrition.
In areas where Feed the Future works in Bangladesh, poverty fell by 16 percent from 40.5 percent in 2011 to 34 percent in early 2015. Additionally, childhood stunting fell by 12 percent across the two major divisions where Feed the Future targets efforts in Bangladesh, from 36.9 percent in 2011 to 32.3 percent in 2014.
These results reflect data from USAID, 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 2016 (FY16). Impact data for poverty statistics comes 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. For more information on the indicators above, please view our Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. All dollar amounts are listed in U.S. dollars.
Bangladesh faces both opportunities and challenges for agriculture-led growth and food security. Since 2000, its gross domestic product has grown at an average rate of six percent. Rice production has tripled over the last 30 years. The extreme ($1.25 per day) poverty rate fell from about 59 percent in 2000 to about 43 percent in 2010. Forty-eight percent of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector and a large majority of the rural population is involved in fisheries. However, Bangladesh remains the most densely populated country in the world, 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 the country having some of the highest rates of undernutrition and child stunting in the world.
More than 28 million people live in Feed the Future’s target regions in Bangladesh, where food security and nutrition face considerable challenges associated with scarce water resources, a rising sea level, vulnerability to extreme shocks, and changing weather patterns. Population growth, urbanization and soil and natural resource depletion have led to degradation of Bangladesh’s land, water bodies, wetlands, and forests and pose a significant threat to its agriculture sector.
Gender-related factors further complicate food insecurity and undernutrition: Women are heavily engaged in agriculture but do not have access to extension services or other inputs like seeds and fertilizer. They are also often the last to eat at mealtimes. Nonetheless, Bangladesh is making progress. The under-5 mortality rate has declined by more than 50 percent since 1993, and 88 percent of children under 5 receive vitamin A supplementation twice a year through government-led campaigns. Poverty and child stunting have dropped within Feed the Future target regions. Consistent with the Government of Bangladesh’s priorities, Feed the Future focuses on increasing rice production while helping farmers diversify into higher-value, nutrient-dense commodities such as horticulture and fish.
Feed the Future supports the following programs, partnerships and organizations in Bangladesh.
New technology shields farmers in vulnerable areas from risk and helps them build their resilience. Mohammad Abul Hossain is an experienced vegetable farmer from the Bogra district of Bangladesh. Like…
Read MoreWith so many competing demands for how countries — across governments, civil society, the private sector, academic institutions and other country stakeholders — invest in improving food security, why should we even care about policy?…
Read MoreAkhter Hossain knows how to work the land. He also knows his family’s future relies on the fields he cultivates. He wakes up each day and glances at the Bangladesh…
Read MoreUSAID – through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative – is supporting Bangladesh to improve food security and nutrition by promoting sustainable and inclusive agriculture-led growth.
Read More