Effects of using the internet on smallholder farmers’ income and dietary quality in Bangladesh

Fariha Farjana, Thanh Tung Nguyen and Matin Qaim

No 358944, Discussion Papers from University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF)

Abstract: The internet is expanding at a rapid rate, which is true even in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. The internet affects how people produce and consume food and other goods and services. This may also have implications for incomes and diets in smallholder farm households, where poverty and undernourishment are still commonplace. Here, we use primary data collected from 720 farm households in Bangladesh to analyze how using the internet affects agricultural production activities and food consumption choices. Potential issues of endogeneity are addressed through an instrumental variable approach and other quasi-experimental methods. Our results suggest that using the internet increases farm production diversity, commercialization, and income by improving farmers’ access to markets, information, and innovative ideas. We also find positive effects on dietary diversity, even though the results depend on the concrete dietary indicators used. Strikingly, using the internet seems to encourage the production of certain nutritious and profitable foods but does not always lead to an increase in their consumption. Our results highlight the important role of the internet in enhancing farm productivity, income, and potentially also diets. At the same time, our findings also suggest that more efforts are needed to improve dietary outcomes and nutrition.

Keywords: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39
Date: 2025-06-23
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/358944/files/3 ... 0in%20Bangladesh.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:ubzefd:358944

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.358944

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Discussion Papers from University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().