Are gender inclusiveness and rural transformation interlinked? The case of Bangladesh

Abstract

Gender inclusiveness is important in the rural transformation process of Bangladesh as rural women play key roles in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Gender inclusiveness also leads to gender equity. We empirically evaluate relationships between rural transformation and gender inclusiveness in Bangladesh. We consider three rural transformation indicators: high-value commodities’ share in agricultural output values, non-farm employment’s share in rural labor employment, and non-agricultural GDP’s share in total GDP. Indicators capturing gender inclusiveness include the per capita rural income of males and females, ratio of investments into gender programs, female access to education, access to healthcare, employment participation, land ownership, and asset ownership. We test the effect of the difference in per capita rural income of males and females and the ratio of their incomes and check for the robustness of the gender variables across different model specifications. Analyzing 128 district-level observations from 32 districts of Bangladesh across four time periods (2000, 2005, 2010 and 2016), we use both ordinary least squares and fixed effects panel regression models. We find that female land and asset ownership and access to education and healthcare are robust determinants of various stages of rural transformation. Thus, our results suggest that improving women’s ownership of land and assets and investing in women’s education and healthcare will likely contribute to a more inclusive rural transformation.