About The Book There have been several studies on the rural economy of Bangladesh,most of them related to the analyses of the dynamics in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. What has,however,been seriously missing is an informative account of the resource endowment and accumulation,livelihood strategy,and resource transformation in the rural setting. The main objective of writing this book is to fill-in the existing research gaps through developing a livelihood strategy framework. In other words,we would like to derive some insights from the process of transformation,and the impacts of such transformation on income and poverty of rural households. But that is easier said than done. What is needed most in this respect is to acquire knowledge about the nexus between the farm sector and the non-farm sector,and how the linkages affect rural livelihoods. In doing so,we have selected four periods over the last two decades (1988; 2000,2008 and 2014),and repeatedly collected information on socio-economic and demographic indicators for sample households in 62 villages spread over Bangladesh. It is,perhaps,the first book in the history of Bangladesh that attempts to focus on the identification of the livelihood patterns of the same sample households in four periods. However,while writing this book,we had in mind different types of readers. We thought that the policymakers and the donors who frame policies or place funds might benefit from reading such a book. Additionally,beneficiaries of this book could be the teachers and the students of colleges and universities who are always engaged in studies related to rural areas. And finally,researchers on rural economy,especially on agricultural economics,might find this book worth its price. Contents List of Tables,Figures,and Boxes Foreword Preface *Part 1: The Book and the Livelihoods *Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Beauty of the Book *Chapter 2 A Framework of Livelihood Strategy 2.1 Analytical Approach to Livelihoods 2.2 The Transforming Structure and Process 2.3 Theory for Empirical Analysis Part 2: Resource Endowment and Accumulation *Chapter 3 Dynamics of Rural Demography 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Households and Population 3.3 Age Pyramid 3.4 Women and Children 3.5 Distribution of Households 3.6 Dependent and Working Age Population 3.7 Occupational Distribution of the Labor Force *Chapter 4 Rural Health Scenario 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Health Status 4.3 Morbidity 5 4.4 Types of Diseases 4.5 Sources of Treatment 4.6 Treatment Costs 4.7 Concluding Remarks *Chapter 5 Education: Human Capital Development 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Education in Rural Bangladesh 5.3 Coverage of Educational Institutions by Economic Status 5.4 Education and Occupation 5.5 Education Level 5.6 Results 5.7 Concluding Remarks *Chapter 6 Agrarian Structure and Assets 6.1 Land-People Nexus: Natural Capital 6.2 Land Ownership and Tenancy Arrangements 6.3 Quality of Land 6.4 Livestock Assets 6.5 Accumulation of Physical Capital 6.6 Access to Institutions and Financial and Social Capital 6.7 Changes in the Endowment of Assets 6.8 Conclusion: Hands on,not off Part 3: Livelihoods Strategy *Chapter 7 Patterns of Labor Use: A Time-Budget Approach 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Labor Force Participation by Gender 7.3 Participation of Labor Force by Age Group 7.4 Educational Levels and Duration of Work 7.5 Participation by Land Ownership 7.6 Nature of Employment 7.7 Types of Employment 7.8 Contribution to Total Employment 7.9 Market and Employment 7.10 Underemployment and Socio-economic Status 7.11 Employment by Poverty Status *Chapter 8 Land Utilization,Cropping Pattern and Cropping Intensity 8.1 Introductory Remarks 8.2 Distribution of Cultivated Land 8.3 Land and Crops 8.4 Cropping Pattern and Cropping Intensity 8.5 Yield of Crops 8.6 Modern Paddy and Crop Diversity *Chapter 9 Migration: Push or Pull? 9.1 Overall Context 9.2 Migration and Bangladesh 9.3 Migratory Profile 9.4 Migration and Education 9.5 Migrants and Their Distribution 9.6 Profile of a Single Female Migrant *Chapter 10 Rural Women at Work 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Earlier Studies 10.3 Women and Economic Activities 10.4 Reasons for Women’s Participation 10.5 Women’s Work and Empowerment 10.6 Conclusions and Policy Implications * Chapter 11 Nonfarm Economy and Livelihoods 11.1 Preliminary Remarks 273 11.2 Bangladesh Perspective 11.3 Features of Nonfarm Activities 11.4 Strategies and Policies Part 4: Resource Transformation *Chapter 12 Modern Technology in Paddy 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Production and Modern Varieties 12.3 Institutions for Rice Research 12.4 Release of Varieties 12.5 Classification of Varieties 12.6 Adoption and Technological Progress 12.7 Replacement of Varieties 12.8 Adoption,Factor Payments,and Efficiency 12.9 Determinants of Adoption: Regression Results *Chapter 13 Rural Markets and Livelihoods 13.1 Setting the Rationale 13.2 Land Market 13.3 Tenancy Market 13.4 Labor Market 13.5 Credit Market 13.6 Water Market 13.7 Product Market and Prices 13.8 Conclusion *Chapter 14 Marketing of Crops 14.1 Role of Marketing 14.2 Farmers and Crops 14.3 Incidence of Marketing 14.4 Marketable Surplus 14.5 Story about Stocks 14.6 Farm-Gate Prices 14.7 Harvest Sales 14.8 Why is the Price of Rice Important? *Chapter 15 Rural Credit Market and Microcredit 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Objectives,Methodology,and Data Sources 15.3 An Overview of the Rural Credit Market 15.4 NGOs and the Microfinance Revolution 15.5 Financial Inclusion 15.6 A Successful Agricultural Credit Program 15.7 Concluding Remarks *Chapter 16 Infrastructure: Gateway to Growth! 16.1 Defining Infrastructure 421 16.2 Review of Research 421 16.3 Theoretical Construct 424 16.4 Impact of Infrastructure in Bangladesh 427 16.5 Infrastructure and Poverty 435 16.6 Infrastructure and Inequality 436 16.7 Infrastructure and Poverty: Perceptions 437 Part 5: Livelihood Outcomes *Chapter 17 Costs,Returns,and Crops 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Use of Inputs 17.3 Cash and Unit Costs 17.4 Changes in Output and Input Prices 17.5 Costs and Returns in Cultivation 17.6 Mechanization and Costs 17.7 Contribution of Factors and Productive Force 17.8 Farm Size and Productivity *Chapter 18 Household Income: Growth,Structure and Disparity 18.1 Methodological Niche 18.2 Income Growth and Structure 18.3 Determinants of Income 18.4 Nature of Income Distribution *Chapter 19 Household Expenditure Patterns 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Rural Food Demand Structure 19.3 Measurement Issues 19.4 Findings *Chapter 20 Poverty: Measurement,Trend and Determinants 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Measurement of Income Poverty 20.3 Problems in Determining the Poverty Line 20.4 Changes in Income-Poverty: Quantitative 20.5 Changes in Income Poverty: Qualitative 20.6 Profile of the Poor 20.7 Research and Perceptions of the Poor 20.8 People’s Perceptions of Economic Change 20.9 Non-Income or Human Poverty 20.10 Persistent and Transient Poverty 20.11 Livelihood Strategy for Escaping Poverty 20.12 Conclusion: The Gun of Growth *Chapter 21 A Tale of Transformation 21.1 A Different Village 21.2 Similar but not Same 21.3 Of Heroes and Villains 21.4 Transforming Agrarian Structure 21.5 Transforming Power Structure 21.6 How are Rural People? 21.7 Concluding Remarks Index
