Diversity In Bangladesh Research Articles

Farm diversification and food and nutrition security in Bangladesh: empirical evidence from nationally representative household panel data

Existing literature suggests that farm production diversification has the potential to influence the diet diversity of farmers, but that the magnitude of the association is likely to vary by context and the underlying causal mechanisms are not well understood. This study analyzed the nexus between farm diversification and diet diversity using two round of nationally representative panel data from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS), collected in 2011/12 and 2015. We used several indicators of dietary diversity including the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), Women’s Dietary Diversity Score (WDDS), and the Food Variety Score (FVS). To measure farm diversification we used the total number of crop, vegetable and fruit species, the number of food crop species only, and the Margalef species richness index. We found robust evidence for a positive association between farm diversification and diet diversity, even when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity across households using the conditional fixed effect Poisson model in order to take advantage of the panel structure of the data. The magnitude of the estimated effect was small. Analysis of other factors indicates that market access, commercialization of farms, diversification of income towards off farm sources and women’s empowerment also have positive and significant effects on household dietary diversity. These findings suggest that it may be necessary to couple efforts to increase farm diversity, market access, farm commercialization and income diversification with women’s empowerment in order to improve dietary diversity in Bangladesh. Further research is needed to better understand these complex relationships including their ultimate associations with nutritional status.

A comparison of minimum dietary diversity in Bangladesh in 2011 and 2014.

Improving infant and young child feeding practices is critical for improving growth and reducing child mortality and morbidity. This paper aims to compare predictors of minimum dietary diversity, an important indicator of adequate complementary feeding practices, in Bangladesh in 2011 and 2014. The 2011 and 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey were used to examine predictors of minimum dietary diversity among 6-23months. An additional analysis was conducted for the 18-23-month group, because a significant increase in meeting minimum dietary diversity recommendations was seen in this age group only. Factors found to be associated with practices were compared across time points. In 2011, minimum dietary diversity was 23.8% and increased to 28.8% in 2014. Among children 18-23months, in 2011, minimum dietary diversity was 32.5% and increased to 42.8% in 2014. Among all children, wealth, education, exposure to media, and antenatal care were significant predictors of dietary diversity. In the 18-23-month age group, significant predictors in 2011 were wealth and decision making. In 2014, significant predictors were education and exposure to media. Demographic trends indicated a significant increase in education and exposure to media between 2011 and 2014. As these were significant for minimum dietary diversity in 2014 overall and for 18-23months, they might be important targets of future interventions, specifically utilizing media channels and tailoring special strategies for women with low education and limited exposure to media.

The distribution and host range of the banana Fusarium wilt fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, in Asia.

Fusarium oxysporum formae specialis cubense (Foc) is a soil-borne fungus that causes Fusarium wilt, which is considered to be the most destructive disease of bananas. The fungus is believed to have evolved with its host in the Indo-Malayan region, and from there it was spread to other banana-growing areas with infected planting material. The diversity and distribution of Foc in Asia was investigated. A total of 594 F. oxysporum isolates collected in ten Asian countries were identified by vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) analysis. To simplify the identification process, the isolates were first divided into DNA lineages using PCR-RFLP analysis. Six lineages and 14 VCGs, representing three Foc races, were identified in this study. The VCG complex 0124/5 was most common in the Indian subcontinent, Vietnam and Cambodia; whereas the VCG complex 01213/16 dominated in the rest of Asia. Sixty-nine F. oxysporum isolates in this study did not match any of the known VCG tester strains. In this study, Foc VCG diversity in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka was determined for the first time and VCGs 01221 and 01222 were first reported from Cambodia and Vietnam. New associations of Foc VCGs and banana cultivars were recorded in all the countries where the fungus was collected. Information obtained in this study could help Asian countries to develop and implement regulatory measures to prevent the incursion of Foc into areas where it does not yet occur. It could also facilitate the deployment of disease resistant banana varieties in infested areas.

Changes in Underlying Determinants Explain Rapid Increases in Child Linear Growth in Alive & Thrive Study Areas between 2010 and 2014 in Bangladesh and Vietnam

Background: Child linear growth sometimes improves in both intervention and comparison groups in evaluations of nutrition interventions, possibly because of spillover intervention effects to nonintervention areas or improvements in underlying determinants of nutritional change in both areas.Objective: We aimed to understand what changes in underlying socioeconomic characteristics and behavioral factors are important in explaining improvements in child linear growth.Methods: Baseline (2010) and endline (2014) surveys from the Alive & Thrive impact evaluation were used to identify the underlying determinants of height-for-age z scores (HAZs) among children aged 24–48 mo in Bangladesh (n = 4311) and 24–59 mo in Vietnam (n = 4002). Oaxaca-Blinder regression decompositions were used to examine which underlying determinants contributed to HAZ changes over time.Results: HAZs improved significantly between 2010 and 2014 in Bangladesh (∼0.18 SDs) and Vietnam (0.25 SDs). Underlying determinants improved substantially over time and were larger in Vietnam than in Bangladesh. Multiple regression models revealed significant associations between changes in HAZs and socioeconomic status (SES), food security, maternal education, hygiene, and birth weight in both countries. Changes in HAZs were significantly associated with maternal nutrition knowledge and child dietary diversity in Bangladesh, and with prenatal visits in Vietnam. Improvements in maternal nutrition knowledge in Bangladesh accounted for 20% of the total HAZ change, followed by maternal education (13%), SES (12%), hygiene (10%), and food security (9%). HAZ improvements in Vietnam were accounted for by changes in SES (26%), prenatal visits (25%), hygiene (19%), child birth weight (10%), and maternal education (7%). The decomposition models in both countries performed well, explaining >75% of the HAZ changes.Conclusions: Decomposition is a useful and simple technique for analyzing nonintervention drivers of nutritional change in intervention and comparison areas. Improvements in underlying determinants explained rapid improvements in HAZs between 2010 and 2014 in Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Impact of Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) program on Improvement of Woman Headed Household Consumption Diversity in Bangladesh

A number of studies have established that Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) program beneficiaries are better off during the two-year benefit cycle. This study was an attempt to provide evidence using household survey data on whether the VGD program improves beneficiary household welfare over the cycle. This study was conducted in Sylhet district of Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect data from equal number of beneficiary and non-beneficiary households. This study used the propensity score matching (PSM) method to analyse data. The study finds a robust and positive effect of program on the beneficiary households to improve their wellbeing through improving meal frequency, per capita expenditure. The results signify consumption variability of the beneficiaries’ households. Furthermore, this behaviour of beneficiaries increases the demand for different items of good at the local market which could help enhancing the national growth. Thus the number of program beneficiary could be increased to promote the process.Â

Role of credit in food security and dietary diversity in Bangladesh

This work attempts to disentangle the relationship between credit, food security, and dietary diversity in the context of Bangladesh through descriptive and econometric analyses of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey of 2010 as well as a supplementary primary survey of 1200 households. To adequately address potential selection bias, we apply a variant of propensity score matching as well as an instrumental variable technique based on the distance from the nearest financial institution to account for endogeneity in our estimates. Our analysis reveals that access to credit tends to improve food security and allows households to achieve greater dietary diversity. In particular, food security is proxied by calorie consumption, and households with credit access tend to have greater calorie consumption per capita. Dietary diversity is measured through a number of dietary diversity scores, such as the food consumption score and the household dietary diversity score, and households with access to credit score higher than those without according to such measures. The results have been found to be robust following correction for endogeneity issues, and the paper therefore provides empirical evidence in favor of policies supporting accessible credit for poor households in Bangladesh.

Impacts of climate change, agroecology and socio-economic factors on agricultural land use diversity in Bangladesh (1948–2008)

The paper examines the impacts of climate change, agroecology and socio-economic factors on agricultural land use diversity (ALUD) using a panel data of 17 regions of Bangladesh covering a 61 year period (1948–2008) by applying a dynamic panel GMM estimator. Results revealed that ALUD and total rainfall have actually increased @ 0.19% and 0.02% per year whereas variability in temperature has declined @ 0.06% with significant differences across agroecological zones (AEZs). Among the climatic factors, total rainfall significantly increases ALUD. ALUD is also significantly influenced by agroecological characteristics. ALUD is significantly higher in Ganges River Floodplains but lower in Meghna River Floodplains and Chittagong Coastal Plain. Among the socio-economic factors, ALUD increases significantly with increase in the prices of vegetables, jute and phosphate fertilizer and R&D investment. ALUD significantly decreases with increase in the prices of lentil, onion, sugarcane, nitrogen and potassium fertilizers and extension expenditure. Policy implications include price policies to improve vegetable and jute prices, stabilise/reduce fertilizer prices and investments in R&D to develop crops that are suitable for high rainfall areas as well as specific AEZs in order to promote ALUD in Bangladesh.

Causes of Biodiversity Depletion in Bangladesh and Their Consequences on Ecosystem Services

Bangladesh is exceptionally endowed with a vast variety of flora and fauna due to its unique geophysical location which are maintaining balance ecosystem. There are recorded 5,700 angiosperms, 68 legumes, 500 medicinal plants, 29 orchids and 1,700 pteridophytes. Sundarban is a rich faunal diversity in Bangladesh which mammals 113, birds 628, reptiles 126, amphibians 22, 708 fishes, insects 2,493, mites 19, alges 164 and 4 species of echinoderms. Bangladesh’s inland water bodies are known to be the habitat of 266 species of indigenous fish, 13 exotic fish, 56 prawns, about 26 freshwater molluscs, and 150 birds. The marine water bodies (200 nautical miles along the coast) are also remarkable for being habitat of 442 species of fish. There are at least 36 species of marine shrimps. About 336 species of molluscs, covering 151 genera have been identified from the Bay of Bengal. In addition, several species of crabs, and 31 species of turtles and tortoises, of which 24 live in freshwater, are found in Bangladesh. A total of 168 seaweeds, 3 sponges, 15 crabs, 3 lobsters,10 frogs, 3 crocodiles, 24 snakes, 3 otters, 1porcupine, 9 dolphins, and 3 species of whale found in Bangladesh. About 70 bees, many species of wasps and 8-10 per cent of the land area is under good canopy cover. A total of 81 fish species were recorded from Chalan Beel including 72 indigenous fish species and nine exotic species. More than 85 percent of Modhupur forest has been cleared in last 40 years. In most of the areas the age of sal forest is not more than 10 to 15 years. Thousands prawn farms have replaced almost the Chokoria mangrove forest. Thousands prawn farms have replaced almost the entire forest. The Chokoria Sundarbans today- the evergreen forests have been replaced by thousands of shrimp ponds. Two orders of class Oligochaeta of phylum Annelida: five families, nine genera include fifteen species of Tangail District of Bangladesh. A total of 35 species of earthworms have been recorded in Bangladesh. Already, 12 wildlife species have become extinct from Bangladesh. In addition, Mammals 40, birds 41, reptiles 58 and amphibians 8 have listed in red data book of threatened animals of Bangladesh. Anthropogenic pressures, uncontrolled dredging, hydrological intervention, pollution, chemical fertilizers are directly effect on habitat, biodiversity and aquifer. In this article, the causes of depletion of biodiversity and the consequences on ecosystem services were observed.

Determinants of crop diversity in the regions of Bangladesh (1990–2008)

The paper measures the level of crop diversity and identifies factors influencing diversification using a panel data of 17 regions of Bangladesh covering a 19 year period (1990–2008). Results revealed the trends that agricultural areas allocated to high‐yielding variety rice, spices and vegetables has increased, while areas cultivating traditional rice, minor cereals, oilseeds, pulses, jute and sugarcane has declined at variable rates across regions with significant differences. The level of crop diversity is also significantly different across regions and has decreased in 2008 from its 1990 level in most regions except Faridpur, Khulna and Sylhet. Among the determinants, an increase in the relative prices of vegetables and urea fertilizer, extension expenditure, labour stock per farm, average farm size, irrigation and a reduction in livestock per farm significantly increase crop diversity. Price policies to improve vegetable prices and investment in irrigation infrastructure and extension services are suggested to promote crop diversity in Bangladesh.

Do babies eat what mothers eat? The relationship between maternal and child dietary diversity in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Ethiopia

Diverse diets are linked to better child growth from 6 mo onwards. Interventions typically focus on educating mothers about the importance and ways of improving child dietary diversity (DD). However, new evidence suggests that maternal and child DD are associated. Data from surveys on mother and child (6–24 mo) dyads in Bangladesh (BD), Vietnam (VN) and Ethiopia (ET) were used to explore the concordance and strength of the association between maternal and child DD and determine if maternal DD can predict child's minimum DD. DD scores were derived from 24‐hour recall of intake of foods from 7 groups. Fair mother/child concordance (kappa = 0.23–0.40) was found for intake of legumes, dairy and eggs in BD and ET; animal‐source foods (0.26) and eggs (0.27) in VN; and vitamin A‐rich vegetables in ET (0.23). Multivariate regression analysis showed a strong association between maternal and child DD in all 3 countries, suggesting that education should focus on improving both maternal and child DD, rather than child DD only, to maximize benefits for both mother and child. The area under the curve values from receiver operating characteristic analysis were greater than 0.7 and significant in all 3 countries, indicating that maternal DD could predict child DD. However, because a standard maternal DD cut‐off point could not be identified, both indicators should be measured in large surveys to accurately estimate mother and child DD.Funding support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through Alive & Thrive, managed by FHI360

Homegarden agroforestry systems: an intermediary for biodiversity conservation in Bangladesh

Biodiversity conservation is one of the important ecosystem services that has been negatively impacted by anthropogenic activities. Natural forests (NF) harbor some of the highest species diversity around the world. However, deforestation and degradation have resulted in reduced forest land cover and loss of diversity. Homegarden agroforestry (AF) systems have been proven to be an intermediary for biodiversity conservation. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of home garden AF practices to conserve tree species diversity in Bangladesh and compare them with tree species diversity in NF. A total of nine locations were selected for this synthesis from published literature which comprised of five AF sites and four NFs. Shannon–Weiner Diversity Index (H) was similar for home-garden AF (3.50) and NF (2.99), with no statistical difference between them. Based on non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination analysis, the AF and NF plots showed distinct separation. However, Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index ranged from 0.95 to 0.70 indicating nearly no overlap in species composition to significant overlap between AF and NF. Based on our results, we conclude that AF can serve as an important ecological tool in conserving tree species diversity, particularly on landscapes where NF fragments represent only a small fraction of the total land area. Creating and maintaining AF habitats in such human dominated landscapes should be part of the biodiversity conservation strategy.

Co-circulation of G1, G2 and G9 rotaviruses in hospitalized patients in Bangladesh during 2006-2009

Rotavirus strain diversity in Bangladesh has been explored since 1985 and as seen in other parts of the world, rotaviruses have shown tremendous strain diversity overtime. Rotavirus antigen was detected in stool specimens using a solid-phase sandwich-type enzyme immunoassay. A multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed for rotavirus G and P genotypes. This current study was carried out between 2006 and 2009 during which time 1,607 (23%) of 7,058 fecal specimens tested positive for group A rotaviruses with the highest incidence rate being observed in winter each year. Genotyping of rotaviruses showed a sharp decline in G2P[4] between 2008 and 2009 with a gradual increase in G1 and G9 strains. Since the Government of Bangladesh is planning to include rotavirus vaccine in the national immunization program, these data on rotavirus strain diversity should be taken into consideration for vaccine strain selection.

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) Diversity in Bangladesh: Land Use and Artificial Selection1

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllusLam.) Diversity in Bangladesh: Land Use and Artificial Selection. Bangladesh is often recognized as a secondary center of diversity for jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) and is expected to harbor important genetic diversity of this underutilized tree crop. Unfortunately, genetic erosion is occurring before this rich local resource has been documented and utilized for potential crop improvement. The aim of this study was to carry out a village-based survey and make morphological measurements to document and assess jackfruit diversity across trees associated with a gradient of three locations/habitats (homesteads, public lands, and forest or fallow lands). We also tested the hypotheses that cultivated jackfruit found in homesteads exhibited positive selection pressure for characteristics desirable in the market, and that the tree location reflected its history of origin and human selection. This was accomplished using 28 standardized morphological descriptors and represents the first large-scale assessment (900 trees) of jackfruit diversity in multiple locations (nine villages). Among the descriptors studied, those most closely associated with jackfruit marketability showed a trend for selection among the trees located in homesteads. Both fruits and leaves were larger in plants on homesteads compared to plants in forest/fallow lands, and fruit quality was significantly higher in homestead trees compared to the other two location categories. However, 18.7% and 23.7% of the fruits found on public lands and forest/fallow lands, respectively, were still considered to be of excellent fruit quality and tree vigor was significantly higher in jackfruit in forest/fallow lands compared to the other location categories. The combination of high tree vigor and presence of excellent fruit quality among jackfruit in forest/fallow lands suggests that the “wild” Bangladeshi jackfruit germplasm, which is considered inferior for market and is being negatively impacted, has valuable genetic diversity to contribute to jackfruit cultivation. Furthermore, sampling across a gradient of habitats may enable the detection of possible trends resulting from domestication pressures.

Vulnerability of intertidal macrophytes diversity in Bangladesh to climate change and sea level rise

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.