Changing gender roles in household food security and rural livelihoods in Bangladesh.

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter addresses the changing gender roles in household food and livelihood security in a flood-prone area in Bangladesh. It looks at the contribution of women to household food security and women's use of social capital for sustaining their livelihood. IFPRI panel data collected before and after the devastating floods of 1998 were used, as well as the results of fieldwork carried out in the same area during 2001-2003. Taken together, the data show the significant and changing role of gender in rural livelihood and food security. It was found that, at household level, gender inequality still results in the relatively poor nutrition of women in spite of their crucial role in the food system. In particular, young women and widowed or divorced women without sons are now taking more responsibility for sustaining their livelihoods by engaging in economic activities. Female literacy and educational attainment are on the rise. Kinship and marital relations are changing, though not always to the advantage of women, and dowry is increasingly becoming a social problem. It is concluded that, though social change has not obliterated gender disparities, the gender gap seems to be narrowing.