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PR, IFPRI3; ISI; IFPRIOA; CRP2; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI), Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Policy, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Many cash transfer programs include complementary nutrition training, with the aim of encouraging households to use transfer resources toward improving child nutrition. Evidence indicates that these bundled programs, if intensive and well-implemented, can be effective in improving child nutritional status. However, little is known about how adding nutrition training to transfer programs affects their economic impacts. In particular, few studies have assessed whether nutrition programming may induce reallocation of transfer resources from physical capital to human capital. Scarce evidence also exists as to whether these tradeoffs depend on the transfer modality. We study a pilot program called the Transfer Modality Research Initiative in Bangladesh (TMRI), designed as a randomized controlled trial. TMRI provided cash or food transfers, with or without intensive group-based nutrition behavior change communication (BCC), to mothers of young children in poor rural households. We find that adding nutrition BCC to cash or food transfers leads to larger impacts on both consumption and assets – potentially surprising, given that the transfer value is unchanged. Analysis of mechanisms suggests that these effects occur through the BCC inducing increases in income generation, through investments in livelihoods. Suggestive evidence indicates that the effects of TMRI’s BCC are plausibly due to the intensive group-based format, which increased social capital for participant women and their household members, as well as improved participant women’s agency and self-confidence, knowledge, and input into household decisions. Results indicate that adding nutrition BCC to cash or food transfer programs do not necessarily induce a tradeoff between investing in human capital versus physical capital, but can rather strengthen impacts on both if appropriately designed.

PR, IFPRI3; CRP4; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Gender Linkages (ANGeL); GAAP; G Cross-cutting gender theme; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; TMRI, Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH); A4NH; Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Policy, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Background: Recent evidence suggests that diet inequities between men and women may have diminished within rural Bangladeshi households. However, this has not been directly tested with appropriate physiologic adjustments and it is unclear whether changes have occurred across socioeconomic strata. Understanding intrahousehold dietary patterns at different points on the income and food-security distribution in rural Bangladesh—particularly, within ultrapoor and farm households—is important for appropriate design of gender-sensitive and nutrition-sensitive interventions, which often target these groups. Objective: Using 2012 and 2016 data, we aimed to examine gender differences in diet quantity and quality among ultrapoor and farm households in rural Bangladesh. Methods: The study used baseline 24-h dietary data from 2 randomized control trials conducted in rural Bangladesh: the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (ultrapoor households) and the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Gender Linkages project (farm households). Ordinary least squares regressions with household-level fixed effects tested for gender differences among constructed diet measures, such as caloric intake, caloric adequacy ratio, dietary diversity score, global diet quality score, and probability of consuming moderate or high levels of healthy food groups. Results: In both samples, on average, women consumed fewer calories than men in the same households but consumed near equal or more in reference to their caloric needs. Women scored <1% lower than men on diet quality indicators and showed similar probabilities to men of consuming healthy foods. Most men and women in both samples were calorically inadequate (>60%) and recorded poor diet quality scores that indicated high risk of nutrient inadequacy and chronic disease (>95%). Conclusions: In both ultrapoor and farm households, although men record higher intake quantities and diet quality scores, the apparent male advantage disappear when energy requireme

Non-PR, PRSSP; IFPRI1; CRP2; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, PHND; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Upon request of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) conducted this study to support USAID in assessing the state of empowerment and gender parity of men and women along the agricultural value chain in the Feed the Future (FTF) Zone of Influence (ZOI) in Bangladesh. Specifically, IFPRI’s Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP), funded by USAID, piloted the modified Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) survey instruments in 10 upazilas (sub-districts) within the FTF ZOI across 1,200 households, which broadly belong to three economic activities of interest: (1) agricultural production, (2) agricultural entrepreneurship, and (3) agricultural sector employment. The quantitative survey was complemented by qualitative research to glean further insights into the facilitators and constraints of empowerment among various actors in the agricultural value chain. The data and analysis generated from this WEAI for Value Chain (WEAI4VC) study may inform USAID’s selection and design of interventions that may, in turn, maximize its programmatic impact on women and men’s empowerment as producers, entrepreneurs, and wage employees.

PR, IFPRI1; IFPRI4; EgyptSSP; PRSSP, DGO; MTID; DSGD; LAC; WCAO; AFR; SAO; SAR; ECAO; AFR, At the regional and country level, developments in 2017 had important repercussions for food security and nutrition. This section offers perspectives on food policy developments across the major regions: Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Globalization and the impact of growing antiglobalization pressures on food security are examined for each region, along with many other current topics.

PR, IFPRI1, DGO; CPA; WCAO; DSGD; SAO; PHND; LAC

Non-PR, IFPRI4; CSISA; CRP2, EPTD; PIM; PHND, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

PR, IFPRI1, DGO; CPA; WCAO; DSGD; SAO; PHND; LAC, 2016 saw important developments with potentially wide repercussions for food security and nutrition in individual countries and regions. This section offers perspectives on food policy developments across the major regions: Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Urbanization trends and related impacts on food security and nutrition are presented for each region. The individual regional sections cover many other critical topics: Acceleration of cooperation and investment in Africa to improve food security in the face of climate challenges and low commodity prices; Continuing conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, while some countries begin to face policy reform needs and realities of low oil prices; Central Asia’s promotion of agricultural diversification and regional integration to increase economic resilience; South Asia’s rapid growth and new investments and policies in the agriculture sector; Urbanization, changing diets, and regional growth in East Asia Recession in major economies of Latin America and the Caribbean along with El Niño’s effects on regional prospects.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; PRSSP, PHND, Upon request of the Governance Innovation Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, IFPRI has prepared this research note using 2015 nationally representative household survey data. This note provides an overview of the state of early marriage in rural Bangladesh, changes in marriage trends over a twenty-year time period, and briefly explores ways to reduce the incidence of early child marriage in Bangladesh as a conduit for development progress.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; PRSSP, PHND; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), The overall objective of the ER+ component is to assist ultra-poor women and their families in disaster-prone areas of Bangladesh in lifting themselves above the lower poverty line toward greater food security. To achieve the objective, a third “promotional” year has been introduced to ER, during which women—either ER laborers/trainees themselves or the wives, daughters, mothers, or sisters of male ER laborers/trainees—receive a substantive cash grant to invest in a productive asset or income-generating activity in combination with relevant business-related training, a one-year monthly cash allowance, and intensive follow-up support. The resulting model therefore combines the pre-existing “protective” elements (employment generation and 4 community asset development) with “promotional” elements for a more viable pathway out of extreme poverty and toward food security

Non-PR, IFPRI5, PHND

PR, IFPRI1; C Improving markets and trade, DGO; CKM; ESAO; WCAO; SAO; DSGD; MTID, In addition to global events and food policy changes, 2015 also saw important developments with potentially wide repercussions in individual countries and regions. This chapter offers perspectives on major food policy developments across the major regions: Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The individual regional sections cover many critical topics: Facing climate risks and growing populations with regional cooperation and accountability in Africa; Growing refugee populations, food insecurity, and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa; Vulnerability to external shocks and falling remittances that increase Central Asia’s food insecurity; New policies for food safety, nutrition, and financial and social inclusion in South Asia; Expected impacts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in East Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean’s contribution to global food security and global environmental public goods

PR, IFPRI4;CSISA, PHND; DSGD

Non-PR, IFPRI1; PRSSP, PHND, The present study looks into the first link in the agricultural value chain: the producers. Upon request from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) conducted this agricultural value-chain study through its Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program for Food Security and Agricultural Development (PRSSP), funded by USAID. The IFPRI-PRSSP conducted this study in the Feed the Future (FTF) Zone of Influence (ZOI) in the south and southwest regions of the country. FTF is the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative that supports country-driven approaches to address the root causes of poverty, hunger, and undernutrition. In Bangladesh, FTF’s collective efforts aim to improve the livelihood and nutritional status of households through: (1) increased on-farm productivity, (2) increased investment in market systems and value chains, (3) enhanced food security policy and planning capacity, (4) enhanced agriculture innovation capacity, and (5) improved nutritional status of the rural poor.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; CRP4; G Cross-cutting gender theme; DCA; PRSSP; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, PHND; PIM; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Development programs that reduce gender gaps are expected to not only improve women’s well-being, but also their children’s. This draws on a growing body of literature that shows a strong positive association between women’s status and control over resources and improvements in children’s outcomes, particularly nutrition and education. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the relationship between empowerment gaps between men and women in the same household and children’s well-being using nationally representative data from the 2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS). We measure children’s well-being using nutritional status for younger children (ages 0–5) and education outcomes for older children (ages 6–10 and 11–17). We measure relative empowerment using direct measures of empowerment collected from men and women in the same households using the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index. Our findings suggest that gender gaps in empowerment are only weakly linked to children’s nutrition, although different measures of empowerment reveal significant differences between boys’ and girls’ outcomes, depending on the measures used. Overall, the household head’s (father’s) education is significantly associated with better nutrition and education outcomes for children, but younger girls (ages 6–10) and older boys and girls (ages 11–17) are more likely to receive more education when mothers are more educated. Our results on parental education suggest that fathers’ empowerment may be reflecting a “wealth” effect that is invested in children’s nutrition and education when they are young, while mothers’ empowerment becomes more important in girls’ education in general and keeping older children, regardless of sex, in school.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; PRSSP; BIHS, PHND, Upon request from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Policy Research and Strategy Support Program in Bangladesh (IFPRI-PRSSP) developed and began a study on the adoption of agricultural technologies in USAID’s Feed the Future (FTF) zone of influence in the south and southwest regions of the country. FTF is the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative to support country-driven approaches to address the root causes of poverty, hunger, and undernutrition. In Bangladesh, FTF’s collective efforts aim to improve the livelihood and nutritional status of households through: (1) increased on-farm productivity, (2) increased investment in market systems and value chains, (3) enhanced food security policy and planning capacity, (4) enhanced agriculture innovation capacity, and (5) improved nutritional status of rural poor. The agricultural technologies evaluated in this study are: (1) Urea deep placement (UDP)-popularly known as “Guti urea”; and (2) Modern, stress-tolerant varieties of rice.

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; CRP2; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index; G Cross-cutting gender theme; CRP4, PHND; PIM; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)

Non-PR, IFPRI1; E Building Resilience; E.1 Policies, institutions and investments for resilient social systems; Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI); PRSSP, SAO, The overall objective of the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI) is to provide evidence that can be used to streamline the social safety net system in Bangladesh, with the goal of improving the food and nutrition security and livelihoods of the very poor in a cost-effective way. The research will inform policymakers which type of program can best improve the income status and food and nutrition security of the poor and thus be a valuable tool to the government as it prepares its social protection strategy.

PR, IFPRI4, PHND

PR, IFPRI3; CRP2, PHND; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

Non-PR, IFPRI1; PRSSP; CRP2, DSGD; PIM; PHND, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

PR, IFPRI3; ISI; C.3 Labor Markets; D Transforming Agriculture; CRP2, DSGD; MTID; PHND; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP4; Theme 8; PRSSP; BIHS; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, PHND; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), Using nationally representative survey data from Bangladesh, we examine the relationship between women’s empowerment in agriculture and two measures of household food security: per adult equivalent calorie availability and dietary diversity. We use the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index to assess the extent of women’s empowerment in agriculture and instrumental variables techniques to correct for the potential endogeneity of empowerment. We find that the overall women’s empowerment score, the number of groups in which women actively participate, women’s control of assets, and a narrowing gap in empowerment between men and women within households are positively associated with calorie availability and dietary diversity.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; PRSSP; CRP4, PHND; A4NH, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)