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The Rohingya is a stateless minority group in Myanmar, suffering from ethnic and religious armed conflicts, state persecution, and displacement. Since the escalation of violent conflicts in the early 2010s, they have fled the country and sought refuge in neighbouring countries, and in the biggest numbers, in Bangladesh. Living in densely populated refugee camps, Rohingya children receive very limited access to education and are exceptionally vulnerable to illnesses, violence and trafficking. This discussion paper describes the conditions and contexts under which education is offered, and identifies the serious problems and gaps in provision for Rohingya children in Bangladeshi refugee camps.

As a result of chronic poverty many people in South Asia experience poor quality schooling, interrupted schooling, or no schooling at all. People affected by poverty face multiple constraints on wellbeing, which typically include informal employment, low wages and poor health. In such contexts the benefits and, more specifically, the "returns" to education are not easily observed. Standard measures of educational attainment (such as primary school completion, years of schooling, literacy rates) are ill-suited to capture and understand such benefits. Similarly, data on income from formal employment is likely to be unsuitable. The paper argues that concepts of educational benefit and mobility have to be re-thought in contexts of chronic poverty to capture the "marginal returns" in situations of constraint and vulnerability. The paper illustrates this argument with ethnographic vignettes of uses of literacy by non-schooled adults in Bangladesh. (Contains 2 notes.)

Purpose: As Covid-19 became a pandemic, numerous people were forced to stay at home, leading to increased intimate partner violence (IPV) in many countries, particularly in developing and least-developed ones. This paper aims to highlight the IPV based on 15 different cases formed from the practical evidence of five developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: The authors interviewed 15 women from five countries who were the victims of IPV during the early periods of Covid-19 outbreak. Due to geographical remoteness, the authors conducted informal telephone interviews to collect the participants' personal experiences. The conversations were recorded with participants' permission; afterwards, the authors summarized participants' experiences into 15 different cases without revealing their original identities (instead, disguised names were used). Findings: It was revealed that the women were the primary victims of such violence, particularly from their intimate partners (husbands). In most cases, such IPV, as reported by the interviewees, originated or increased after the pandemic when they were forced to stay at home, losing their partners' jobs or income sources. Originality/value: The authors summarized the causes of IPV and put forward a few action recommendations based on the interviewees' practical experience and existing literature. This paper will open a new window for research investigations on IPV during emergencies such as Covid-19 outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age gap between spouses has important implications for a range of outcomes—from fertility and longevity, to gender relationships, marital quality, and stability. This paper examines the age gap between spouses in 12 countries in South and Southeast Asia. The average age difference (husband's minus wife's age) is positive in all countries and ranges from 2.7 in Myanmar to 8.4 in Bangladesh. Age homogamous marriages accounted for 5% of all marriages in Bangladesh to close to half of all marriages in Thailand. The proportion of age hypogamous marriages was uniformly low in all the countries except for Myanmar where it reaches close to 10%. Men's marriage age has a stronger effect in determining the age gap. In general, the age gap for women with lower education was larger than for those with higher education. However, much of this effect was explained by the difference in marriage timing across educational groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing forcibly displaced populations worldwide are adversely affecting the poorest host communities' livelihoods. Livelihood programmes can reduce this tension by addressing host communities' skills and capital constraints. In this paper, we examine the effect of a customised version of BRAC's Ultra‐Poor Graduation (UPG) programme on the livelihoods of the host communities of Rohingya refugees. We find that the programme increases labour supply in self‐employment of working‐age men and women, household income, food expenditure and productive asset. Further, we find some weak evidence that the programme decreases the tension between hosts and Rohingya refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within international development greater income is assumed to lead to greater need fulfilment, which increases subjective wellbeing. The Wellbeing in Developing Countries ESRC Research Group's dataset provides an opportunity to test these relationships using measures of income, expenditure, perceived and "objective" need satisfaction and subjective wellbeing collected in Bangladesh and Thailand. The paper demonstrates that firstly, location and socio-economic status are related to both what people say they need, and the extent to which they feel they have satisfied these needs; secondly, there is a close correlation between objective and subjective need satisfaction, indicating that people's perceptions of need satisfaction are accurate; and thirdly, there is a significant positive relationship between expenditure on basic need fulfilment and subjective and objective need satisfaction.

The 'Ultra-poor Graduation' model, though highly effective in poverty alleviation, costs substantially more than alternative poverty alleviation approaches. One possible way of improving the cost-effectiveness of the model is to analyse the treatment effect heterogeneity and identify the participants who do not gain much from the programme and better customise the interventions to their needs. Applying recently developed machine learning methods on a large-scale RCT dataset from Bangladesh, we identify and characterise the program participants who benefit and who do not. We find significant variation in impact on assets where the top quintile gainers experience asset growth of 337% while asset growth is only 189% for the bottom quintile. Heterogeneity in impact on household expenditures is found to be present but of lower magnitude than that of assets. Importantly, the machine learning techniques we apply reveal contrasts in characteristics of beneficiaries who made the most in assets vs. consumption. The most benefitted households in per-capita wealth outcome were relatively older, were more dependent on wage income, had less involvement in self-employment activities, and had lower participation in household decision-making at baseline. In contrast, the top quintile gainers of household expenditure are younger, earn less from wages, depend more on self-employment income, and have higher participation in household decision-making. The results identify beneficiary characteristics that can be used in targeting households either to maximise impact on the desired dimension and/or to customise interventions for balancing the asset and consumption trade-off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is facing a tremendous problem in the form of food insecurity that is posing a great challenge to achieving sustainable development goal 2 of creating a hunger-free world. Refugees and displaced populations are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition, who lack any productive assets and depend on aid. Rohingya refugees, displaced from Myanmar and took refuge in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, live in a crowded unhealthy environment and are severely vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition. In our recent study, we found that only 21.6% of the households in Rohingya refugee camps had acceptable food security status. Interestingly, this study further revealed that acceptable food security status was significantly higher among the households that had some additional income aside from aid, compared to those relying on aid alone. This shows the importance of promoting livelihood opportunities to improve food security status among the camp dwellers. In this paper, we presented our views on promoting livelihood opportunities to address the overwhelming food insecurity crisis among the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of international migration on household welfare in Bangladesh based on the household income and expenditure survey 2010. An asset index was constructed to measure the long-run welfare impact of migration using principal component analysis. The findings of the study indicate that the households with a migrant member have a significantly higher asset score compared to the non-migrant. The migrant households also have a lower expenditure share on food and a higher calorie intake per capita suggesting they are less poor compared to non-migrants. Besides, the study found robust evidence that the families having a migrant in a lucrative destination are well-off than those with a migrant in a less desirable destination. The overall findings suggest that the welfare of the households not only depends on the households' migration status but also their destination choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: High out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE) increases the probability that households will become impoverished or will forgo needed care. The aim of this paper is to study household medicines expenditure and its associated determining factors to develop policies to protect households from financial hardship. Methods: The present cross-sectional and population-level study used the Bangladesh 2016–17 National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). The final sample size was 46,080 households. We analyzed the probability of OOPE for medicines, the share of total OOPE due to medicines out of total OOPE in health (reported as a ratio between zero and one), the OOPE amount for medicines reported (in United States Dollars), and the share of OOPE amount on medicines out of total household expenditure (reported as a ratio between zero and one). Predictors of analyzed outcomes were identified using three regression models. Results: Out of those households who spent on healthcare, the probability of having any OOPE on medicines was 87.9%. Of those who spent on medicines, the median monthly expenditure was US$3.03. The poorest households spent 9.97% of their total household expenditure as OOPE on medicines, nearly double that of the wealthiest households (5.86%). The characteristic which showed the most significant correlation to a high OOPE on medicines was the presence of chronic diseases, especially cancer. Twenty six percent of all surveyed households spend more than 10% of their OOPE on medicines. Conclusions: Our study shows that financial protection should be targeted at the poorest quintiles and such protection should include enrollment of rural households. Further, outpatient medicines benefits should include those for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research is aimed to explore the entrepreneurial motivations for women entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWDs) in Bangladesh. The paper adopted the push-pull theory of entrepreneurial motivation as its theoretical background and assessed whether women EWDs chose to pursue an entrepreneurial career for “push” or “pull” reasons. A qualitative, multiple case study research methodology based on a semi-structured, in-depth interview format was adopted to enable the respondents to share their experiences. Four cases of women EWDs involved in small businesses were selected based on purposive sampling. Findings imply that the motivational reasons for women EWDs involve a blend of push and pull factors. Four pull factors - economic freedom, higher income, self-fulfillment and achievement, personal development and two push factors – job dissatisfaction and lack of career prospects were found as predominant entrepreneurial motivators. The unique contribution of this paper is to offer evidence on the entrepreneurial motivation for women EWDs in Bangladesh through a qualitative research methodology deriving data from in-depth interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas as a clean source of cooking fuel has enormous potential to meet Bangladesh's energy needs. The objective of this article is to identify the factors influence biogas adoption in rural households. The study aimed to look at the policy framework that needs to be put in place to promote biogas adoption as a cooking fuel in the study region. This study collected primary data by interviewing 118 respondents with a structured questionnaire (78 biogas users and 40 non-users) during July-August 2021. Respondents were women who cook for their families regularly. This paper based on a cross-sectional analysis of nine socio-economic and demographic parameters that may influence biogas uptake in Western Bangladesh. The dependent variable, biogas cooking fuel adoption status, was modeled as a dichotomous variable. To evaluate the relationship between independent variables with the dependent variable (biogas user and no-user), bivariate descriptive analysis (t-test for continuous data and chi-square test for categorical data) was performed. Then, a binary regression model was chosen to determine the adjusted effect of independent variables on biogas adoption decisions. The study found that the demographic factors such as income status of the women, education of household head, family size and total family income significantly and positively influence biogas adoption decisions. Contrary to the hypothesis, access to internet and total land area owned by the family show negative relation with biogas cooking fuel adoption status of the household. The outcome of this research added evidence to support energy policy with giving emphasis on subsidy, and adult education in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Compared to smoking, which has major consequences in chronic kidney disease (CKD) initiation and progression, smokeless tobacco (SLT) consumption is considered to have fewer health consequences. We investigated the prevalence of SLT consumption and its association with risk factors of CKD in a rural and peri-urban Bangladeshi population. METHODS Using random sampling we recruited 872 adults in 2020, from the Mirzapur Demographic Surveillance System of Bangladesh, who had resided in the area for at least five years. Interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire, physical examination and anthropometric measurements were done, followed by blood and urine testing. The blood and urine tests were repeated in selected participants after three months as per the CKD Epidemiology Collaboration equation. RESULTS The prevalence of SLT consumption was 29%. Being aged ≥46 years (OR=7.10; 95% CI: 4.79-10.94), female (OR=1.64; 95% CI: 1.21 -2.22), housewife (OR=1.82; 95% CI: 1.35 -2.45), farmer (OR=1.71; 95% CI: 1.06 -2.76), widow (OR=3.40; 95% CI: 2.24- 5.17), and having no formal schooling (OR=4.91; 95% CI: 3.59- 6.72), family income of <$100/month (OR=1.66; 95% CI: 1.13-2.43), sleeping duration <7 hours per day (OR=2.33; 95% CI: 1.70-3.19), were associated with a significantly higher odds of SLT consumption. However, being aged 31-45 years (OR=0.25; 95% CI: 0.16-0.38) had significantly lower odds of being an SLT consumer. Among the diseases investigated, undernutrition (OR=1.63; 95% CI: 1.15-2.33), hypertension (OR=1.52; 95% CI: 1.13-2.05), anemia (OR=1.94; 95% CI: 1.39-2.71) and CKD (OR=1.62; 95% CI: 1.15-2.27) were significantly associated with SLT consumption. In the multivariable analysis, being aged 31-45 years (AOR=3.06; 95% CI: 1.91-4.90), ≥46 years (AOR=15.69; 95% CI: 4.64-53.09) and having no formal schooling (AOR=2.47; 95% CI: 1.72-3.55) were found to have a significant association with being an SLT consumer. CONCLUSIONS SLT consumption is associated with most of the established risk factors of CKD within the studied population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the importance of income, relative income, monetary and non-monetary poverty for individual wellbeing or happiness in rural Bangladesh. The study is the first estimate of a wellbeing function for Bangladesh using nationally representative micro-panel data. Employing a linear panel model with individual random effects and a large set of control variables like education, work status and disability, we found a strong and positive relationship between wellbeing and income. Being further below the poverty line—estimated using the depth-of-poverty measure—was found to have a significant negative effect on happiness. On the other hand, the income of the reference group was found to be just as important as one's own income for an individual's happiness. Comparisons were found to be asymmetric and upwards. Improvements in a multidimensional poverty index, constructed using indicators of household education, health and living standards, were found to have a positive and significant relationship with happiness in all specifications. Gender-disaggregated analysis reveals that, while the income effect was found to be stronger for male individuals, the effects of relative income, monetary and non-monetary poverty on subjective wellbeing are larger for female individuals. The results thus point towards a need to incorporate such notions into the assessment of individuals' wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of subjective and emotional well-being of workers in Bangladesh's female-intensive export-oriented ready-made garments (RMG) factories based on a function of demographic, economic and psychological factors and work-place characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: Employee-level data are obtained from a purposefully designed survey conducted in 2014 on 50 RMG factories located outside the country's export processing zones. Dependent variables include domain-specific as well as overall life satisfaction. The analysis is quantitative in nature and based on ordered probit and (factory) fixed-effect regression models. Findings: Compared to men, female workers are found to be more satisfied with life and financial situations and less depressed, a finding that is robust to controls for workplace characteristics and policies (e.g. provisions for childcare; higher presence of female supervisors; and management's attitude toward work life balance) and factory fixed effects. This suggests that despite various compliance-related problems, employment in the RMG sector is intrinsically valued by female employees. Among other findings, although absolute income does not appear to affect well-being, relative income effect is statistically significant. Originality/value: Although there is a sizable literature on the importance of decent jobs and women's employment in low-pay manufacturing jobs in developing countries, studies on whether women intrinsically value such jobs are limited. Our study is unique in the sense that it draws on a purposefully designed survey conducted a year after the deadly collapse of RMG factory buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The incident exposed unsafe work conditions in which millions of women work in manufacturing sector around the developing world. To our knowledge, this is also the first paper on subjective assessment of work and non-work aspects of lives of women employed in Bangladesh's RMG sector. The study also contributes to the international literature on the paradox of the contented female worker in low-pay jobs. Therefore, the paper will be of significant interest to readers from other countries that rely on apparel exports and depend on female labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether the income augmenting role of microcredit is attributable only to increased participation of the borrower in economic activities or switch to more productive activities also. The paper provides a framework to analyze this question in absence of any longitudinal data. By using the data from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the paper finds that microcredit enables the borrowers to move progressively into more productive activities as they become experienced. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use change is a pressing concern for the livelihoods of people in tropical developing countries. Changes in land use from swidden (shifting cultivation) agriculture to smallholder tree‐dominated areas producing timber, fruits and cash crops can result in changing livelihood outcomes for rural communities. This paper examines land use patterns of rural households and the association with food production and income across three different zones of various forest proximity across a landscape gradient (remote, intermediate and on‐road) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. We conducted in‐depth semi‐structured surveys of households (175–300) and farm owners (30) to collect information on people's perceptions of land use change, present land use patterns and contributions to food production and income. Our research found that more than half of the surveyed households experienced a decline in the land available for food production over the past 30 years. The land use patterns revealed decreasing crop lands (mainly swidden shifting cultivation/land rotation farms) and an increase in areas of planted trees within this landscape. However, household use of the reduced crop land has not affected food production in the on‐road zone, whereas the diversity of food sources has declined. People living in more remote areas engaged in swidden farming and used larger areas of crop and fallow lands, fruit orchard and accessed natural forest lands that provide a diverse reservoir of food sources. The current land uses contribute to variations in annual household income across zones, with remote dwelling people earning less to those living closer to urban areas in the intermediate and on‐road zones. In summary, this transition of land uses over three decades and changes in income and food availability cannot be generalised across the region because of zone specific differences. We recommend a broader and context‐reliant landscape management approach in consideration of the diversity of forest and tree benefits for the livelihoods of people in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS COV2 pandemic hits the life and livelihoods of millions and consequently slows down the world economy. The pandemic hits hard the specific social groups due to travel restrictions/bans and other regulations that affect their income and consumption patterns. The goal of this paper is to find out whether the pandemic has any effect on consumption and income patterns among consumers in rural settings. To implement this study, structured questionnaires were sent to respondents and collect data from 180 samples living in rural areas of four different administrative districts in Bangladesh such as Rajshahi, Bogura, Naogaon, and Natore. Using paired sample T-test (parametric) and Wilcoxon signed ranked test (nonparametric) test found that pandemics had a significant effect on the pattern of consumption and income in the northern area of Bangladesh. While the Keynesian method of income determination shows that the MPC before the COVID-19 pandemic was 0.31 and during it was 0.37. This shows that consumers would like to consume at a higher level compared to them before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the study revealed that though the pandemic significantly affect consumers’ income to reduce, consumption levels inclines fuelled by the fear of panic buying during the pandemic. Government should have preparedness to provide essential goods during any natural disasters or pandemic-like events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 'Sponsoring National Processes for Evidence-Informed Policy Making in the Health Sector of Developing Countries' program was launched by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, WHO, in July 2008. The program aimed to catalyse the use of evidence generated through health policy and systems research in policymaking processes through (1) promoting researchers and policy advocates to present their evidence in a manner that is easy for policymakers to understand and use, (2) creating mechanisms to spur the demand for and application of research evidence in policymaking, and (3) increased interaction between researchers, policy advocates, and policymakers. Grants ran for three years and five projects were supported in Argentina, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Nigeria and Zambia. This paper seeks to understand why projects in some settings were perceived by the key stakeholders involved to have made progress towards their goals, whereas others were perceived to have not done so well. Additionally, by comparing experiences across five countries, we seek to illustrate general learnings to inform future evidence-to-policy efforts in low- and middle-income countries.Methods: We adopted the theory of knowledge translation developed by Jacobson et al. (J Health Serv Res Policy 8(2):94-9, 2003) as a framing device to reflect on project experiences across the five cases. Using data from the projects' external evaluation reports, which included information from semi-structured interviews and quantitative evaluation surveys of those involved in projects, and supplemented by information from the projects' individual technical reports, we applied the theoretical framework with a partially grounded approach to analyse each of the cases and make comparisons.Results and Conclusion: There was wide variation across projects in the type of activities carried out as well as their intensity. Based on our findings, we can conclude that projects perceived as having made progress towards their goals were characterized by the coming together of a number of domains identified by the theory. The domains of Jacobson's theoretical framework, initially developed for high-income settings, are of relevance to the low- and middle-income country context, but may need modification to be fully applicable to these settings. Specifically, the relative fragility of institutions and the concomitantly more significant role of individual leaders point to the need to look at leadership as an additional domain influencing the evidence-to-policy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the household level, remittances are considered to affect consumption and asset accumulation patterns and thus contribute to household welfare. This paper attempts to examine whether expenditure and asset accumulation across the remittance recipient households in Bangladesh vary according to internal and international remittance incomes. The paper employs the propensity score matching technique to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated as a measure of the impact of remittances on expenditure and asset accumulation for the households that have migrant family members. For doing so, it uses data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2010. In addition, this study carries out Rosenbaum bounds sensitivity analysis to test the sensitivity of results. The results suggest that the effects of remittances on household spending pattern vary widely between households with internal migrants and those with international migrants. In case of international remittances, the results demonstrate significant positive increase in education expenditure and other expenditure category (e.g., fuel and transportation), and rise in land and property purchase. Households with international migrants also spend significantly lower percentage of incomes on food expenditure. In case of internal remittances, either the effects are insignificant compared to that of international remittances or the results from internal remittance recipient households are extremely sensitive to claim to be different than that from the households with no migrants. The overall effects of remittance on household expenditure and asset accumulation thus appear little in the country, although international remittance incomes tend to contribute to household welfare notably compared to internal remittance incomes. Such finding raises potential alarm before the policymakers and reveals the importance of actions at the appropriate level to ensure better utilization of remittance incomes, especially in the areas of domestic economic environment and institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to education is usually found to be highly correlated with household income and wealth. This correlation often instigates an expectation that increasing income of the poor households will lead to greater human capital accumulation. This paper exploits randomized roll-out of a large-scale livelihood development programme for the ultra-poor in Bangladesh to measure the effect of asset transfer and livelihood supports on children's schooling. We find limited impact on enrolment although this programme has been extremely successful in transforming the economic lives of the ultra-poor and causing substantial increases in their income and productive assets. The beneficiary households are also found to have increased their expenditures on education. This increase in educational investment, however, has not affected educational attainment during the evaluation period. We also find that the programme increased the extent of child labour immediately after asset transfers. The level of this impact on children's work declines two years after the interventions ended. The increases in child labour are concentrated in activities related to livestock rearing, which is the primary type of asset transferred in this programme. However, we do not find evidence indicating a trade-off between children's enrolment and work. The evidence suggests that asset transfer programmes can be more effective by including additional components focusing on improvement in educational outcomes instead of relying primarily on spillover effects through income gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The word development has become a blazing topic in the milieu of scholars, think tanks and civil society in Bangladesh for the last few years. Even some development experts claimed to have modified the present development approaches in Bangladesh. The purpose of this paper is to identify the problems of the conventional development system in Bangladesh and to provide a model of development that will serve the people best. To address the aims of this study both qualitative and quantitative methods are used, where primary and secondary data are utilized. After analyzing the data, this paper argues that a number of flaws remain in the conventional growth based development system in Bangladesh. Such as, not all growths are positive, an increase of personal income does not translate into well-being, and absence of inclusive development. In addition, the faults can be eradicated by introducing freedom of choice, because if freedom of choice ensues then the inclusive development, human development, as well as good governance, would ensue in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research takes a methodical look at how rising incomes and climate change affect energy use in six different divisions of Bangladesh. To investigate the indirect mechanism of income influence on the consumption of energy, this study employs indicators of industrial structure upgrading and urbanization in a novel way using the fixed effects model which has not been used so far in this kind of study. The results show that income affects energy use in two ways: directly and indirectly. The influence of income on the consumption of energy is inverted U-shaped and may be readily observed. Furthermore, by encouraging urbanization and upgrading of industrial structure, income can indirectly lower energy use. While energy consumption is negatively impacted by climate change, it is less severe than the effect on earnings. Furthermore, there are substantial geographical and temporal variations in the effect of wealth on energy use. Energy use decreases significantly as income rises over time. Income has a detrimental effect on the consumption of energy in the developed southern area. Energy usage is positively affected by income in the undeveloped northern area. In light of Bangladesh's unique the consumption of energy profile, we must reject the "one size fits all" approach and instead concentrate on reducing wasteful spending in areas like income growth, industrial structure and urbanization, and while simultaneously increasing efficiency and precision in our aiming. This study aims to provide policymakers with fresh insights to inform decisions on energy production and consumption policies considering urbanization and industrial growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to climate change, and vegetation indices serve as sensitive indicators. Due to the impacts of climate change, the cropping intensity of Southern region of Bangladesh is very low. So, this study aimed to analyze the changes in vegetation cover over time using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and identify the use of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and the benefits of using such technologies. A questionnaire survey was carried out by purposive random sampling method to detect 120 farmers' socioeconomic status, hazards faced by climate change, adopted climate smart agricultural practices and its benefits for assessing Adaptive Strategy Index (ASI) in Amtali upazila of Barguna district and Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district. NDVI analysis of multi-spectral remote sensing data from 2012 and 2022 indicated the extent of sparse vegetation of Kalapara has increased. Western part of Amtali upazila, fallow areas have become lessened in 2022 (354.55 km2) compared to 2012 (368.78 km2) due to adopting different CSA practices. Saline-tolerant crop varieties, sunflowers, and watermelon cultivation were the highest ranked among the CSA practices, with 301, 300, and 296 ASI, respectively. Calculated weighted average of CSA practices indicated the reduction of production cost, increased family income (49.19%) and cropping intensity (51.67%), which impacts developed social bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper uses qualitative and quantitative data collected by the Wellbeing in Developing Countries ESRC research group in Bangladesh and Thailand to explore the extent to which objective need deprivation predicts subjective and psychological wellbeing, controlling for location, socio-economic status, and gender. The regression analysis is triangulated with qualitative analysis of three illustrative case studies to explore why people experiencing great need deprivation nevertheless report high subjective and psychological wellbeing and propose factors that might support their resilience. The paper reports perhaps unsurprisingly that need deprivation was lower in Thailand than Bangladesh, and subjective and psychological wellbeing higher, with the exception of life satisfaction which was higher in Bangladesh. While goal attainment was significantly associated with affect and life satisfaction in both countries, in Thailand life satisfaction and goal attainment were negatively correlated (−.334), so the more goals respondents felt they had attained, the less satisfied they were. These apparent anomalies are explored further using data from the case studies. The findings confirm that although measures of subjective and psychological wellbeing are correlated, they are not substitutable. For example, subjective wellbeing, especially positive affect, is more influenced by need deprivation than psychological wellbeing, while psychological wellbeing is more influenced by demographic factors, especially in Thailand. Finally, the paper discusses whether the distinct relationships of subjective and psychological wellbeing with need deprivation and income have any implications for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to contribute to debates about how governments and other stakeholders can influence the application of ICTs to increase access to safe, effective and affordable treatment of common illnesses, especially by the poor. First, it argues that the health sector is best conceptualized as a 'knowledge economy'. This supports a broadened view of health service provision that includes formal and informal arrangements for the provision of medical advice and drugs. This is particularly important in countries with a pluralistic health system, with relatively underdeveloped institutional arrangements. It then argues that reframing the health sector as a knowledge economy allows us to circumvent the blind spots associated with donor-driven ICT-interventions and consider more broadly the forces that are driving e-health innovations. It draws on small case studies in Bangladesh and China to illustrate new types of organization and new kinds of relationship between organizations that are emerging. It argues that several factors have impeded the rapid diffusion of ICT innovations at scale including: the limited capacity of innovations to meet health service needs, the time it takes to build new kinds of partnership between public and private actors and participants in the health and communications sectors and the lack of a supportive regulatory environment. It emphasises the need to understand the political economy of the digital health knowledge economy and the new regulatory challenges likely to emerge. It concludes that governments will need to play a more active role to facilitate the diffusion of beneficial ICT innovations at scale and ensure that the overall pattern of health system development meets the needs of the population, including the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development studies faces a major methodological challenge in combining large scale surveys of problematic accuracy in conceptualisation and measurement with local studies whose generalisation is questionable. This paper attempts to combine the overviews from highly aggregated quantitative Labour Force data, adjusted for child and underemployed labour, with insights from village level qualitative case studies to indicate the processes forming patterns of livelihoods in Bangladesh looking over a decade. Using this methodology the prognosis for the mass of people of Bangladesh is deeply worrying despite all their efforts to sustain and improve their income earning opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the data base available in four South Asian countries, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, for the examination of trends in real inequality and poverty. Taking the position that sample surveys of household income and consumption are the only really adequate bases on which size distributions of income for a less developed country can be constructed, the paper examines in Section I the reliability of the surveys available in the four countries. Section II evaluates available price data. Section III looks at directions for future development of data collection. The conclusion is reached that sample surveys regularly conducted in these countries do not provide a particularly good basis for this type of analysis. Needed alterations include permitting access to the primary data (or redesign of published tabulations to meet the needs of this type of analysis), use of per capita rather than total household income and consumption, better coverage of regions and occupations, and exploitation of the price data implicit in the survey data collected. Further, the surveys themselves need to be overhauled, especially with regard to timing of interviews. The paper concludes with a short discussion of alternatives to estimates of inequality that can be used to measure absolute deprivation, such as the QUAC stick for identifying nutritional insufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In low- and middle-income countries, households mainly use solid fuels like wood, charcoal, dung, agricultural residues, and coal for cooking. This poses significant public health concerns due to the emission of harmful particles and gases. To address these issues and support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopting cleaner cooking fuels like electricity and gas are acknowledged as a viable solution. However, access to these cleaner fuels is limited, especially in rural areas. Methods: This study conducted a face-to-face survey with 1240 individuals in rural Bangladesh to explore the link between health issues and cooking fuel type, as well as barriers to transitioning to clean cooking. Using a convenient sampling technique across four divisions/regions, the survey gathered socio-demographic and health data, along with information on clean cooking barriers through a semi-structured questionnaire. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were then employed to identify significant associations between cooking fuel type and health problems. Results: The study revealed that a majority of participants (73.3%) relied on solid fuel for cooking. The use of solid fuel was significantly correlated with factors such as lower education levels, reduced family income, location of residence, and the experience of health issues such as cough, chest pressure while breathing, eye discomfort, diabetes, asthma, and allergies. Economic challenges emerged as the foremost obstacle to the adoption of clean cooking, accompanied by other contributing factors. Conclusion: The use of solid fuel in rural Bangladeshi households poses substantial health risks, correlating with respiratory, eye, cardiovascular, and metabolic issues. Lower education and income levels, along with specific residential locations, were associated with higher solid fuel usage. Economic challenges emerged as the primary obstacle to adopting clean cooking practices. These findings emphasize the need for implementing strategies to promote clean cooking, address barriers, and contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal targets for health and sustainable energy access in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural women in Bangladesh usually have lack of access, control and ownership over their land property because of existing patriarchal norms of the rural society. The prime objective of this study was to assess the impact of rural women's access to land on their income as well as household income. A multistage, geographically clustered, probability-based sampling approach was adopted for this study. Primary data were collected from the rural women living in two selected districts of Bangladesh. The Propensity Score Matching technique was used to assess the impact of land accessibility on household income and rural women's income. The Binary Logistic Regression technique was used to assess women's opinions. The study findings revealed that land had a positive impact on household income but rural women's income did not increase significantly despite having access to land. This study also showed that income, level of education, the existence of NGO operated programs in villages, and the number of visits to NGO offices by rural women were the key factors contributing to improving their overall well-being. Findings imply that the government should design an appropriate land ownership policy that guarantees titling as well as access for women to land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid reduction in under-five mortality has put Bangladesh on-track to reach Millennium Development Goal 4. Little research, however, has been conducted into neonatal reductions and sub-national rates in the country, with considerable disparities potentially masked by national reductions. The aim of this paper is to estimate national and sub-national rates of neonatal mortality to compute relative and absolute inequalities between sub-national groups and draw comparisons with rates of under-five mortality. Mortality rates for under-five children and neonates were estimated directly for 1980-1981 to 2010-2011 using data from six waves of the Demographic and Health Survey. Rates were stratified by levels of rural/urban location, household wealth and maternal education. Absolute and relative inequalities within these groups were measured by rate differences and ratios, and where possible, slope and relative indices of inequality. National mortality was shown to have decreased dramatically although at differential rates for under-fives and neonates. Across all equity markers, a general pattern of declining absolute but constant relative inequalities was found. For mortality rates stratified by education and wealth mixed evidence suggests that relative inequalities may have also fallen. Although disparities remain, Bangladesh has achieved a rare combination of substantive reductions in mortality levels without increases in relative inequalities. A coalescence of substantial increases in coverage and equitable distribution of key child and neonatal interventions with widespread health sectoral and policy changes over the last 30 years may in part explain this exceptional pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing is going to be a major problem in Bangladesh given its population size, scarce resources, existing poverty, insufficient health facilities and lack of a social security system. This paper examines how many years older people expect to be in good health, and what are the correlates of self-rated health (SRH). The data used in this study come from 896 older people aged 60 years and above from Rajshahi district in Bangladesh and from United Nations’ projected population figures. Results show that individuals at age 60 expected about 41 per cent of their remaining life to be in good health, while individuals at age 80 expected only 21 per cent of their remaining life to be in good health. Having exercised during the six months prior to the survey was the single most important correlate of SRH (odds ratio=5.49; confidence interval 4.03–7.47; without any adjustment). While rural–urban differentials and some health decline in old age are inevitable, four factors (exercise behaviour, sufficiency of income, physical limitations and facing abusive behaviour) are to a certain extent modifiable and therefore provide the potential for improving SRH and healthy life expectancy in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper estimates demand for housing and its attributes in urban Bangladesh using a survey of 4400 owner, renter and squatter households. The results revealed that housing demand is inelastic with respect to income and price; and price elasticity is less than income elasticity in absolute terms. Estimates of demand for housing attributes showed that owner and renter households value structural quality, sanitation and electricity, as well as a living room and dining room/kitchen. Squatter households value living space, pit latrine, water supply and electricity, but place less emphasis on structural quality. Irrespective of these submarkets, income improvement strategies are likely to be the most effective means of enhancing housing consumption. The rental submarket might be improved by rent liberalisation, while slum improvement strategies should focus on tenure security and incremental improvement. However, contrary to current practice, the emphasis should be on the size of squatter dwellings rather than on their structural quality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite extensive global efforts, energy poverty remains a persistent issue, primarily affecting developing countries. While there have been numerous policy initiatives proposed in the academic literature to alleviate energy poverty, the potential of energy poverty alleviation through financial inclusion has received limited attention. To address this issue, this study is conducted using survey data from the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey held during 2010 and 2016. A multilevel regression model is employed to identify the association between energy poverty and financial inclusion. The results reveal that households with financial inclusion experience significantly lower rates of acute and severe energy poverty by 13% and 33%, respectively, compared to those without financial inclusion. Moreover, to establish a causal relationship between financial inclusion and energy poverty, a propensity score matching and the Lewbel two-stage least square regression methods are employed in this paper. The findings indicate that female-headed households have a lower likelihood of severe energy poverty compared to male-headed households. Moreover, when comparing education levels within households, both males and females contribute equally to reducing energy poverty through financial inclusion. These research findings can inform policymakers in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 for universal access to affordable and modern energy. Role of gender in the financial inclusion-energy poverty nexus. [Display omitted] • This study investigates the gender dimensions of financial inclusion in addressing energy poverty. • Energy poverty exhibits notable disparities across different districts in Bangladesh. • A causal relationship exists between financial inclusion and energy poverty. • The study underscores financial inclusion as a significant policy approach for mitigating energy poverty. • Financial inclusion plays a crucial role in empowering female-headed households to effectively eradicate energy poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study used the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data from 2010 and 2016 of Bangladesh to examine the effects of human capital (education, experience) and social factors (age, gender, location, economic activity) on income using the OLS and IV (2SLS and GMM) regression methods. The study suggests that both education and experience positively affected income in both rural and urban areas. The gender wage gap, rural-urban wage gap, and industrial and service sector wage gap all climbed to 44.1 percent, 19.4 percent, and 5 percent, respectively, in 2016, much higher than in 2010. It has emerged that both urban males and females earn significantly more than their rural counterparts in both periods. The study found a wage dominance of the service sector over the agricultural and industrial sectors in 2016. Besides, the gap between the agricultural and non-agricultural sector's wages decreased significantly in 2016, indicating decent wage growth in the agriculture sector. As both human capital and social factors have a remarkable contribution to income, strategic planning, and investment are required to reduce inequality and wage gaps and advance inclusive development in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Natural forests offer numerous benefits to indigenous communities and society at large. Incomes from forest sources play an important role in rural households. In addition to this, environmental sources in the forests contribute significantly to rural households' livelihoods and economic well-being. This paper examines the contributions of forests to the livelihoods of the Chakma tribe in Bangladesh. Using the data from 60 randomly sampled households from three villages, it measured forest-resource use with a monetary yardstick. As revealed through analyses, natural forest-sourced income occupies the second-largest share in total average household income next to shifting cultivation income in the study area. Forest products represent an important component in the local livelihoods, with a direct forest income of 11,256 tk year household (tk = taka, the national currency of Bangladesh; US$1 = tk70), or 11% of the total income, in addition to the households receiving monetary benefits of 18,951 tk year household, or 21% of the total income, through the consumption of forest products. The remaining income came from shifting cultivation practice. It was also observed that larger families with more people gathering forest products realized more forest income. This study will be relevant to forest and environmental policy-makers as well as indigenous community development practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is one of the major suppliers of migrant workers especially to the Middle East, and the flow of remittances has increased from $2.8 billion in 2002 to $13.52 billion in 2017, which is more than 5 per cent of the country's GDP. This article investigates the impact of domestic and international migration and subsequent remittances on poverty. The empirical analysis reveals that there is a significant relationship between growth in remittances and different outcome variables in the economy with positive impact on poverty, household income and financial inclusion. The results indicate that both domestic and international remittances have positive impact on poverty alleviation; and these results are statistically significant. International migration and remittance supplies are important pathways out of poverty for the poor households. Considering the impact of remittances on poverty and economic outcomes, appropriate technical and vocational training are needed to utilize the full potential of the migrant workers and maximize the contributions of remittances to the domestic economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh has achieved a high share of tax in the price of cigarettes (greater than the 75% benchmark), but has not achieved the expected health benefits from reduction in cigarette consumption. In this paper we explore why cigarette taxation has not succeeded in reducing cigarette smoking in Bangladesh. Using government records over 2006-2017, we link trends in tax-paid cigarette sales to cigarette excise tax structure and changes in cigarette taxes and prices. We analysed data on smoking prevalence from Bangladesh Global Adult Tobacco Surveys to study consumption of different tobacco products in 2009 and 2017. Drawing on annual reports from tobacco manufacturers and other literature, we examine demand- and supply-side factors in the cigarette market. In addition to a growing affordability of cigarettes, three factors appear to have undermined the effectiveness of tax and price increases in reducing cigarette consumption in Bangladesh. First, the multitiered excise tax structure widened the price differential between brands and incentivized downward substitution by smokers from higher-price to lower-price cigarettes. Second, income growth and shifting preferences of smokers for better quality products encouraged upward substitution from hand-rolled local cigarettes (bidi) to machine-made low-price cigarettes. Third, the tobacco industry's market expansion and differential pricing strategy changed the relative price to keep low-price cigarettes inexpensive. A high tax share alone may prove inadequate as a barometer of effective tobacco taxation in lower-middle income countries, particularly where the tobacco tax structure is complex, tobacco products prices are relatively low, and the affordability of tobacco products is increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SummaryIntroduction1Definitions of ethnic groups and demographics of minority ethnic groups in the UK○ 1.1 Definitions of 'ethnic groups' and 'ethnicity'○ 1.2 Demographics and characteristics of minority ethnic groups in the UK– Countries of origin– Age/sex distribution and life expectancy– Geographical distribution and size of household– Religious beliefs– Education and employment patternsKey points2Overview of the health profile and dietary habits of minority ethnic groups in the UK○ 2.1 Available surveys○ 2.2 Overview of the health profiles among adults from minority ethnic groups– Overall health– Cardiovascular disease (CVD)– Coronary heart disease (CHD)– Stroke– Type 2 diabetes– Obesity○ 2.3 Possible causes of increased disease risk among minority ethnic groups○ 2.4 Smoking, drinking and physical activity habits○ 2.5 Dietary habits and nutritional status○ 2.6 Overview of the health profiles and dietary and health behaviour patterns of children from minority ethnic groups– Overall health– Diet and health behaviour patterns○ 2.7 Gaps in data availabilityKey points3Factors affecting food choice– Income and socio‐economic status– Food availability and access– Awareness of healthy eating– Religious beliefs– Food beliefs– Time and cooking skills– Generation and genderKey points4Traditional diets of minority ethnic groups○ 4.1 Overview of traditional diets of minority ethic groups– South Asians– African‐Caribbeans– Chinese○ 4.2 Dietary acculturation○ 4.3 Nutritional composition of ethnic‐style cuisineKey points5Nutritional interventions and health promotion among minority ethnic groups○ 5.1 Effective nutritional interventions○ 5.2 Health promotion interventions to prevent problems associated with fasting○ 5.3 Priorities for nutritional interventions and health promotion○ 5.4 Using behaviour change models○ 5.5 Current community initiatives○ 5.6 Catering for institutionalised individuals○ 5.7 Recommendations for future research, policy and practiceKey points6Conclusion• Acknowledgements• References Summary: According to the latest census, non‐white minority ethnic groups made up 7.9% of the UK's population in 2001. The largest of these groups were South Asians, Black African‐Caribbeans and Chinese. Studies have shown that some minority ethnic groups are more likely to experience poorer health outcomes compared with the mainstream population. These include higher rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes and obesity. The differences in health outcomes may reflect interactions between diet and other health behaviours, genetic predisposition and developmental programming, all of which vary across different groups. As is the case for the rest of the population, the dietary habits of minority ethnic groups are affected by a wide variety of factors, but acquiring a better understanding of these can help health professionals and educationalists to recognise the needs of these groups and help them to make healthier food choices. Unfortunately, to date, there have been few tailored, well‐designed and evaluated nutritional interventions in the UK targeting minority ethnic population groups. Further needs assessment and better evaluation of nutritional interventions have been recommended to enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of different approaches amongst minority ethnic groups. This briefing paper will provide an overview of the health profile, dietary habits and other health behaviours of the three largest non‐white minority ethnic groups in the UK, explore the factors affecting their food choices, provide a summary of their traditional diets and review the evidence base to identify the factors that support successful nutrition interventions in these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the remittance behaviour of the South Asian community using new data from Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi households in Manchester. The findings show that standard variables such as income, employment, education, linkages to the home country and host country are important determinants of remittances. Although remittances are sent mainly for consumption purposes, those sent for land acquisition and savings have stronger association with the amount of remittances. In addition, we find strong evidence for the remittance decay hypothesis for Indian and Pakistani migrants, but not for Bangladeshi migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general perception in Bangladesh is that women's participation in paid employment will reduce patriarchy. But what does actually happen in Bangladesh when women start to work? In this paper, I find that patriarchy works in a different form when women start to earn money. Most women in Bangladesh cannot control their money. My study shows that middle class married women's income in Bangladesh is controlled by husbands and, in some cases, by mothers-in-law. In general, men think that their wives are their properties and so they have every right to appropriate their income. Husbands consider their wives' income as 'a source of wealth accumulation' that strengthens patriarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Bangladesh is known as one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world, qualitative research and anecdotal evidence suggests its people report levels of happiness that are higher than those found in many other countries. This includes ‘developed’ countries where people have larger per capita incomes and can access a wider range of public services and goods. The paper explores this apparent paradox by analysing primary quantitative and qualitative data, and engaging with existing literature on happiness and objective wellbeing in Bangladesh. The data and analysis presented makes an original and timely contribution to the limited knowledge we have of the construction and experience of happiness and life satisfaction in contexts of extreme and persistent economic poverty. It identifies and offers insights into the ‘personal’ as well as social or ‘relational’ values and goals that people in Bangladesh consider important to achieve happiness in life. It also reflects on how different people experience these values and goals in very different ways. This, we argue, leads to a better understanding of the influence of the social and cultural context in the construction of people’s happiness. In the conclusion, we reflect on the policy implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the husbandry of rattan, its processing, marketing and potentialities of raising the household income of the growers in the floodplain area of Bangladesh. The survey reveals that almost all the clumps (98%) are located in the pond and ditch site and around half of the clumps (48%) are found in the western site of the homesteads. Planting materials used for propagation are suckers and seeds, which are not bought from the market; rather, growers themselves supplied 72% from own source and the remaining 28% comes from neighbours and wildlings. All categorized growers, except the medium and large ones, tend the clumps where female and children were the majority (84%) of the labour force. All the growers, except the medium and large ones, are found to harvest rattan all the year round, while 82% of the growers maintain a three-year rotation. The contribution of rattan husbandry is on an average Tk. 1883 (about USD 32) per household per annum. It has been found that all of the landless and marginal growers (100%) market rattan by themselves, while all of the large category growers (100%) market rattan through middlemen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking is the world's leading preventable cause of death, and it is becoming more prevalent among adults in Bangladesh. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) have been an outbreak in recent years, and smoking habits among bus-truck drivers in Bangladesh are on the rise. This study aims to determine the prevalence and pattern of smoking and smokeless tobacco use among the bus drivers of Dhaka City in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study included 424 questionnaire surveys with drivers (bus and truck) and 10 KIIs. Chi-squared tests were used to measure differences between various parameters (related to smoking habits and driving), while logistic regression models were used to determine the relationship between RTA risk factors and socio-demographic features and other variables. The study results show that about 75.9% of respondents were tobacco users, and among them, 75.9% use Sadapata. Therefore, 57.9% of respondents smoke while driving, and 75.6% used SLT < 10 times while driving. About 64.6% of respondents were involved in RTAs where buses (25.3%), trucks (17.5%), and cars (17.5%) are responsible for RTAs. Statistically, a significant association was found between RTAs and smoking while driving (p < 0.003). The non-licensed drivers are about 3.8 times more likely to be in RTAs than licensed drivers, with a trust period ranging from 1.12 to 13.72. This findings reveal that drivers are addicted to smoking and their smoking behavior, awareness about smoking, lack of a driver's license, personal income, and education have a significant impact on RTAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) or sugary drinks may reduce or even eliminate the household income allocation for other essential commodities. Reducing expenditure for consumption of other household commodities is known as the crowding-out effect of SSB. We aimed to determine the crowding-out effect of SSB expenditure on other household commodities. In addition, we also identified the factors influencing the household's decision to purchase of SSBs. Methods: We used the logistic regression (logit and multinomial logit models) and the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) models. In order to find the probability of a given change in the socio-demographic variables, we also estimated the average marginal effects from the logistic regression. In addition, we regressed the SUR model by gender differences. We used Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016 data to estimate our chosen econometric models. HIES is nationally representative data on the household level across the country and is conducted using a multistage random sampling method by covering 46,075 households. Results: The findings from the logit model describe that the greater proportion of male members, larger household size, household heads with higher education, profession, having a refrigerator, members living outside of the house, and households with higher income positively affect the decision of purchasing SSB. However, the determinants vary with the various types of SSB. The unadjusted crowding out effect shows that expenditure on SSB or sugar-added drinks crowds out the household expenditure on food, clothing, housing, and energy items. On the other hand, the adjusted crowding out effect crowds out the spending on housing, education, transportation, and social and state responsibilities. Conclusion: Although the household expenditure on beverages and sugar-added drinks is still moderate (around 2% of monthly household expenditure), the increased spending on beverages and sugar-added drinks is a concern due to the displacement of household expenditure for basic commodities such as food, clothing, housing, education, and energy. Therefore, evidence-based policies to regulate the sale and consumption of SSB are required for a healthy nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]