Small-scale Agriculture, Women’s Empowerment, and Food Security: A Review of the Coastal Belt of Bangladesh

Sajidul Islam and Md. Shajahan Kabir

Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 2025, vol. 43, issue 8

Abstract: Small-scale agriculture is a cornerstone of livelihoods in Bangladesh’s climate-sensitive coastal belt, where women contribute substantially to production, processing, and market engagement. This study investigates how climate stressors, gender dynamics, and institutional constraints shape women’s empowerment and food security in coastal rural communities. Using mixed methods including household surveys, field trials, and literature synthesis across coastal regions of Bangladesh; we examine adaptive strategies, labor patterns, land access, technology adoption, and market participation. Results show that 50% of farmers use organic fertilizers, 42% cultivate climate-resilient crops, and 25% practice integrated cropping. Women’s engagement in paid work and migration increases household agency but entails social stigma and double workloads; they perform 7.6 times more household chores and 6 times more caregiving than men. Women’s land ownership remains limited (10–13%), and adoption of saline-tolerant varieties, despite 1–2 t/ha yield gains, is low due to extension and knowledge gaps. In fisheries and aquaculture, 1.4 million women participate in post-harvest activities, yet only 10% enter formal value chains. These findings highlight that climate adaptation, gender equity, and inclusive market access are interlinked drivers of resilient agriculture. Policies fostering women’s land rights, extension services, and value chain integration can strengthen empowerment and food security in coastal Bangladesh.

Keywords: Food; Security; and; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/389083/files/Kabir4382025AJAEES143310.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ajaees:389083

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology from Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().