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Effects of Income and Expenditure on Food Intake of Population in Bangladesh

K. M. Mustafizur Rahman
Department of Population Science, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Bangladesh is on the route to a developed country however, challenges remain. The country is still facing the problems of ensuring basic services to its population. There is a mismatch between the statistics and ground reality. Over the last few decades there are considerable progress in the socio-economic sectors however in reality those results do not bring satisfactory fortune for the people. Study shows that, there is an increase of expenditure over income makes people vulnerable to food security. Price hike of essential foods especially rice and pulses makes people to limit their food baskets and resulted in lower calorie intake of the population. It is believed that results of this study will be more helpful in formulating new effective policies and revising the existing one in order to ensure the proper food intake situation of the population in the country.

Keywords: Poverty, Inequality, Price hike, Food security, Food intake.

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Income generation, Socio-economic status, Dietary intake

Objectives:

Considering the above situation, an attempt is made in this study to find out the impact of income and expenditure on the food intake of the population in Bangladesh.

Methodology:

This paper is based on the data mainly collected from the Report on Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) of Bangladesh of different years published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). Different statistical reports, relevant research papers, books and many national and international journals have also been reviewed for conducting this study. We have used an arithmetic growth model to calculate the required rate of increase or decrease of different variables.

Source of Information: Middle East Journal of Applied Sciences Volume : 09 | Issue :03 |July-Sept.| 2019 Pages: 741-746 ISSN 2077-4613

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Despite considerable progress in socio-economic sectors, the country is still facing challenges in reducing poverty and hunger. However, there is a progress in reducing poverty from 48.9 percent in 2000 to 24.3 percent in 2016 (BBS, 2017), the ground reality is far different. Still people are struggling to come out form the scarce of poverty. Furthermore, price hike of essential commodities throws people into more vulnerable situation. Soaring prices of essential food commodities adversely affects the nutritional status of the people. When food prices are on rise people are bound to limit their food consumption that leads to malnutrition.

Analysis of this study shows that increase of expenditure over income has resulted in the decrease of per capita calorie intake of the population and also makes the poor more difficult to sustain and drags down more people into poverty. This is also reflected in the increasing trend of inequality over the years. High price of food and high food inflation bring miserable sufferings to its population especially those who have no or little income. Additionally, this study also shows that, there is a decrease in average per capita daily consumption of rice and pulses which are the main food of Bangladeshi people. This lower rice and pulse consumption along with other food commodities due to soaring prices have resulted in decreasing per day calorie intake of the population in the country. Sharp increases in food prices over the past few years have eroded the purchasing power of households and raised serious concerns about food insecurity and malnutrition in many countries including Bangladesh (Unnayan Onneshan, 2011). Soaring food prices created a range of macro-vulnerabilities in the country. The rising prices of essential commodities, especially, food prices could hurt the poor and worsen equity. Rice and pulses are the staple food of Bangladesh. Changes in prices of this foodstuff affect the people most adversely than changes in prices of any other commodities.

A significant number of people are still living below the poverty line, despite considerable trust in poverty alleviation in all plan documents since the independence of Bangladesh. Providing a decent living standard for the citizens by alleviating poverty is the constitutional obligation of the government. However, as in many other countries, poverty in Bangladesh is still a serious concern. These findings point out the critical need based upon the ground reality for better monitoring and interventions to ensure the affordability of food for the low-income Bangladeshi people. The government needs to be creative in renewing and revising strategies and approaches to control the rising food prices and sequentially food inflation. Otherwise, the aim might slip from the runway of achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goals.

Knowledge Management: Journal