Feed the Future seeks to sustainably reduce global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition by helping partner countries boost agriculture-led growth, resilience, and nutrition. Program efforts are designed to impact the population in Zones of Influence (ZOI) in Feed the Future target countries. The ZOI is the targeted sub-national regions and districts where the program intends to achieve the greatest household- and individual-level impacts on poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. Progress in achieving Feed the Future’s objectives is tracked using population-based performance indicators collected at baseline then periodically thereafter. The purpose of the Bangladesh Feed the Future Phase 2 ZOI 2018/2019 Baseline Survey, referred to as the Feed the Future Bangladesh ZOI Baseline Survey 2018/2019 throughout this report, is to provide the U.S. Government interagency partners, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), USAID/Bangladesh, the Government of Bangladesh, and development partners with information on the current status of the Feed the Future ZOI-level population-based survey indicators.

Feed the Future seeks to sustainably reduce global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition by helping partner countries boost agriculture-led growth, resilience, and nutrition. Program efforts are designed to impact the population in Zones of Influence (ZOI) in Feed the Future target countries. Progress in achieving Feed the Future’s objectives is tracked using population-based performance indicators collected at baseline then periodically thereafter. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) produced this report for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), USAID/Bangladesh, the Government of Bangladesh, and development partners. The report compares indicator estimates and select demographic and household characteristics from the 2018/2019 ZOI Survey, which serves as the Feed the Future Phase One endline survey, with the baseline assessment conducted in 2011/2012 in Bangladesh. This report only includes the Feed the Future Phase One indicators. Secondary data sources are used when needed or appropriate. The Feed the Future Phase One ZOI in Bangladesh includes mostly rural areas in 20 districts consisting of 120 upazilas (sub-districts) in three divisions in the south and southwest region of the country. This assessment provides information about progress on Feed the Future Phase One ZOI indicators. The assessment is designed to show changes in key indicator estimates from the Feed the Future Phase One baseline assessment to the endline assessment. The Feed the Future ZOI Survey endline assessment, however, was not designed to support conclusions of causality or program attribution.

The Bangladesh Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP), implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), designed and conducted a telephone survey to capture the effects of COVID-19 on farmers during the first five months after the coronavirus outbreak began in Bangladesh. This report provides the survey’s findings, with particular attention to access to credit and assistance and supply chain disruptions (e.g., labor shortages, access to agricultural inputs, selling prices of outputs, etc.).

Agricultural technology adoption is an important driver of rural poverty reduction. We study take-up of a specific technology: BARI-Mung 6 (BM6), an improved mung bean seed variety, among smallholder farmers in the southern region of Bangladesh. In contrast to agronomic studies on BM6 performance under highly controlled conditions, we focus on performance of this variety for farmers who are growing outside of the context of an agronomic field trial. We find no evidence of higher performance in this uncontrolled environment: we do not observe statistically significant differences in output or yields between farmers planting BM6 and those planting local varieties. We do, however, observe a significant positive association between BM6 use and yields among farmers who report applying seeds within recommended guidelines. Using a simple model, we illustrate that modest uncertainty around the required quantity of seed per unit area of land can substantively impact the profitability of BM6 seeds for smallholders in our study context. Our findings highlight the importance of providing adequate extension information along with improved technologies to encourage adoption and ultimately improve farmer welfare.

Agriculture's vast potential to improve nutrition is just beginning to be tapped. New ideas, research, and initiatives developed over the past decade have created an opportunity for reimagining and redesigning agricultural and food systems for the benefit of nutrition. To support this transformation, the book reviews the latest findings, results from on-the-ground programs and interventions, and recent policy experiences from countries around the world that are bringing the agriculture and nutrition sectors closer together. Drawing on IFPRI's own work and that of the growing agriculture-nutrition community, this book strengthens the evidence base for, and expands our vision of, how agriculture can contribute to nutrition. Chapters cover an array of issues that link agriculture and nutrition, including food value chains, nutrition-sensitive programs and policies, government policies, and private sector investments. By highlighting both achievements and setbacks, Agriculture for Improved Nutrition seeks to inspire those who want to scale up successes that can transform food systems and improve the nutrition of billions of people.

New evidence this year corroborates the rise in world hunger observed in this report last year, sending a warning that more action is needed if we aspire to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Updated estimates show the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to prevailing levels from almost a decade ago. Although progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, over 22 percent of children under five years of age are still affected. Other forms of malnutrition are also growing: adult obesity continues to increase in countries irrespective of their income levels, and many countries are coping with multiple forms of malnutrition at the same time – overweight and obesity, as well as anaemia in women, and child stunting and wasting.

A growing number of governments, donor agencies, and development organizations are committed to supporting nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) to achieve their development goals. Although consensus exists on pathways through which agriculture may influence nutrition-related outcomes, empirical evidence on agriculture’s contribution to nutrition and how it can be enhanced is still weak. This paper reviews recent empirical evidence (since 2014), including findings from impact evaluations of a variety of NSA programs using experimental designs as well as observational studies that document linkages between agriculture, women’s empowerment, and nutrition. It summarizes existing knowledge regarding not only impacts but also pathways, mechanisms, and contextual factors that affect where and how agriculture may improve nutrition outcomes. The paper concludes with reflections on implications for agricultural programs, policies, and investments, and highlights future research priorities.