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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically estimate the impact of a government microcredit program on the handloom weavers to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from 311 handloom weavers from the Sirajganj District of Bangladesh from July to December 2015 using a multistage sampling technique. The analysis was conducted using a two-stage least squares regression model incorporating instrumental variables to control for the probable endogeneity problem associated with the study.FindingsThis study finds that government microcredit had no significant impact on borrowers' investment in their business, whereas credit received from multiple sources other than government credit had a significant negative impact. Additionally, literacy level, household assets and the number of operational handloom units positively affected investment, while the number of non-operational handloom units and distance negatively affected the investment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings are more specific for the selected case and may not be generalizable to all kinds of SMEs.Practical implicationsThe policy implications are targeted at increasing loan size based on the number of operational handloom units to improve the performance of government and other microcredit programs to facilitate the growth of SMEs in Bangladesh.Originality/valueThis study specifically focuses on estimating the financial performance of government microcredit programs for SME development within the handloom industry, which has not been sufficiently explored in the literature.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the governance challenges confronted by a government microcredit program in Bangladesh following a case study approach. Design/methodology/approach A novel qualitative research tool called process net-map (PNM) was applied to develop a framework for visual understanding of the exact credit implementation process and to identify the actors responsible for creating governance challenges. Key informant interviews were also conducted to identify and distinguish the challenges faced by both the supply-side and demand-side stakeholders. Findings The findings reveal that the studied case faced problems in allocating adequate resources to human and physical capacity development. It was combined with the shortage of funds that made it impossible to meet the clients’ expectations. The lack of legal and regulatory framework disabled the organization from controlling political influence and corruption in the system. Moreover, the policy of lending only to groups proved counterproductive as it led to the exclusion of potentially viable borrowers. Practical implications The key recommendation of the study is on increasing the microcredit fund and a reform of the group lending policy along with several other recommendations. Originality/value The PNM is a newly developed participatory mapping technique that has not been applied in the field of microfinance. Therefore, the use of this method may add new knowledge of conducting an in-depth analysis of why such challenges are associated with mostly public microfinance programs and how they are linked to the implementation process. The challenges encountered are relevant for the implementation of developmental programs that are dependent on the allocation of public funds.

This study examined the pattern of price variations of major fish, livestock and poultry products in Gazipur district of Bangladesh. The secondary data on the average wholesale and retail prices of ten important commodities for a period of six years (June 2014 to June 2019) were collected from the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government. The averages were calculated from a total of 1900 wholesalers and 2450 retailers in Gazipur district. Polynomial trend model was used to understand the nature of changes in the prices of the selected commodities and to make short-term forecasting. The model revealed a different pattern of price change for different commodities in both wholesale and retail markets. In case of mutton, egg (chicken), egg (duck), beef, and silver carp fish, it was highly upward sloping which indicates that price of these commodities will increase at an increasing rate in the upcoming years. A moderately increasing rate of price change was observed for katla fish in both the markets while for broiler, indigenous chicken and rohu fish, it was found a downward sloping. On the contrary, the projection indicates that the price of tilapia fish would remain stable in the near future. Such a scenario suggest that market monitoring system should be strengthened by the government to control the extreme increase or decrease in prices so that none of the stakeholders would be the gainer nor looser from the pricing policy in Bangladesh. Ann. Bangladesh Agric. (2020) 24(1) : 99-112

In Bangladesh, onion is the widely used spices both for preparing food and curing diseases as it has medicinal values. As the demand for onion is increasing day by day, it is necessary to make actual projections of onion for undertaking some policies based on it. Therefore, the study investigates the future changes in the area, yield and production of onion in Bangladesh by using the most popular Box-Jenkins methodology. The auto regressive integrated moving average model has been used to understand the pattern of change over a period of 57 years (1961 to 2017) as well as to forecast the changes in the upcoming years. Some information criteria (such as AIC, AICc and BIC) was considered for selecting the best-fitted models of each variable. The forecasted results showed an upward trend for all the variables considered in this study. It implies that the area of onion will increase from 193932.6 hectares in 2018 to 265770.9 hectare in 2027. Again, the amount of onion production will increase from 2073.61 M tons to 3574.06 M tons and for onion yield, it will rise from 10343.17 Kg/ha to 12988.02 kg/ha from 2018 to 2027. These predictions may help the government balancing the demand with the supply and also regulating the price of onion in the domestic markets of Bangladesh.

This study was conducted to analyze the profitability of rice farming in Bangladesh. In doing so, it utilized the multistage sampling technique to collect the cross-sectional data from seven rice producing districts in Bangladesh during 2016. A total of 140 samples were directly interviewed using a structured questionnaire for achieving the purpose. Apart from the descriptive analysis of the socioeconomic variables of the selected respondents, the benefit-cost and functional profitability analysis of rice were also performed. The log-linear form of Cobb-Douglas production function was chosen to determine the effects of various inputs on the profitability of rice. The finding of cost-benefit analysis reveals that rice farming is a profitable activity in Bangladesh as the estimated cost of production was lower than the return in the selected study areas. However, the profitability differs among different farmers’ group and large farmers are more profitable in rice cultivation than small and medium farmers. In addition, the functional analysis identifies three inputs such as the cost of power tiller, fertilizer and hired labor as the significant determinants of profitability for all farmers in the study regions. Moreover, these factors also differ across the farmer's groups except the cost of fertilizer. Therefore, it is recommended in this study that the concerned authority of the government should ensure adequate and timely fertilizer use at a subsidized price which would be affordable by the farmers. Besides, a fair pricing policy should be set so that fluctuation in the price level can be controlled. Effective extension service may also help the farmers using a better combination of input that will generate higher productivity and return, thereby, will contribute to being food secure and self-sufficient in rice cultivation. J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 17(1): 86–91, March 2019

The study was undertaken to identify the core contribution of women in the rice production activities, identify the wage gap between male and female laborer and factors influencing women’s participation in rice farming at household level in Bangladesh. In doing so, the study utilized the data collected by the field survey from Nilphamari and Mymensingh districts of Bangladesh. A total number of 60 women respondents were selected using random sampling methods who were actively working in the rice fields during the production period in 2015. Data were analyzed using simple statistical techniques as well as OLS regression analysis. An analysis of the socioeconomic status of the women showed that in terms of contribution, nearly 43% and 42%of the total works were done by rural women in rice farming activities in Nilphamari and Mymensingh district, respectively. It was found that male workers spent 228.2 hours and female workers 174.5 hours per season in Nilphamari region compared to 270 hours and 197.3 hours per season in Mymensingh region, respectively. The average wage rate in Nilphamari district was BDT 241/day for male and BDT 175/day was female. Similarly, in Mymensingh district the average wage rate for male and female workers was BDT 281/day and BDT 162/day, respectively. The result of the OLS method suggests that the distance of the rice field from the home, the number of available technologies used and the number of adult male labour significantly affect the women's participation in farming activities. Despite the positive role of women in the production activities, their contribution was often neglected in terms of wage rate. Therefore, this study recommends the avoidance of wage discrimination between male and female workers which may strengthen their position within the family and increase their self-esteem and status in the society.Progressive Agriculture 27 (2): 180-188, 2016

This study examines the determinants of access to credit by the handloom weavers in Bangladesh. Using the multistage sampling technique, the primary data for the analysis were collected from 311 randomly selected handloom weavers from Sirajganj district of Bangladesh during July to December 2015. The data are analyzed by using the Logit model. The model identifies several individual, household, community, and institution-specific factors as the significant determinants of credit access. Among them, family size, farm size, work experience, saving and the flexibility in the terms and conditions of loan use increase the probability of credit access by the handloom weavers whereas the risk aversion attitude and the distance between the Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) from the commune reduce such possibility. Therefore, this study suggests that respondents should utilize the joint effort of the available family members in this labor-intensive business while undertaking rational decisions enhanced through the skills and capabilities acquired over the years. They should maintain a sufficient amount of saving to prove them eligible in repaying their credit. From the institutional perspective, it is suggested that the MFIs should provide adequate financial and non-financial services to its clientele as per their needs. Borrowers’ easy accessibility to the institutions should also be ensured. In doing so, they should open up more branches in the villages so that the door to door services are available to the borrowers. It is expected that these recommendations will help in improving the credit access by the handloom weavers in Bangladesh.

The study has been conducted to examine the factors influencing farm and nonfarm income of Haor economy in Bangladesh. Dingaputa Haor area of Netrokona district was selected for the present study and a sample of 60 farmers had been taken randomly. The log linear form of Cobb-Douglas production function was chosen to determine the effects of socioeconomic variables on farm income and non-farm income. Apart from this, some descriptive statistical analysis were done to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of sampled households. The estimated results of the regression models revealed that family size and farm size had a significant positive effect on farm income and non-farm income had a significant negative effect on farm income. On the other hand, family size had a positive and significant effect on non-farm income and farm income had a negative and significant effect on non-farm income. To promote the farm and non-farm sector income and strengthening its potential linkages between them, the study mainly recommends increasing efforts on two fronts: first, reforming the institutions responsible for rural development and second, development activities and projects that would enhance farm and non-farm income and the linkages between them.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/pa.v23i1-2.16578Progress. Agric. 23(1 & 2): 143 – 150, 2012