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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

Erick Boy

researcher spotlight

Erick Boy

Erick Boy is the Chief Nutritionist in the HarvestPlus section of the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. As head of nutrition for the HarvestPlus Program since 2008, he has led research that has generated scientific evidence on biofortified staple crops as efficacious and effective interventions to help address iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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Bangladesh

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Publications

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Journal Article

Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2026Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini; Hoddinott, John F.
Details

Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Evidence shows that social protection can improve diets, but little is known about how impacts vary within households, the extent to which the modality of the transfer affects how it is distributed across all household members, whether adding training on the importance of nutrition and diets alters the way transfer resources are allocated within the household, relative to a transfer alone, and if differences in allocations are shaped by differences in livelihood opportunities. We use individual food intake data from two randomized control trials fielded in rural Bangladesh to address these questions. Our results overwhelmingly demonstrate that food gains are distributed equally, regardless of the type of transfers households received (cash, food, or combination), inclusion of nutrition training, regional context, or specific dietary outcome measured. These patterns of findings hold when we consider several extensions: (1) analyzing more aggregated demographic groups; (2) considering alternative measures of diet; (3) analyzing shares rather than levels; (4) considering impacts relative to deprivation at baseline; (5) analyzing impacts on non-food outcomes that can be assigned demographically; (6) re-estimating impacts using alternate samples and alternate estimation models. Where the few significant differences are found, they are often small in magnitude and in favor of children.

Year published

2026

Authors

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter; Roy, Shalini; Hoddinott, John F.

Citation

Coleman, Fiona M.; Ahmed, Akhter U.; Roy, Shalini; and Hoddinott, John. 2025. Understanding social safety nets and intra-household food allocation: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Development Economics 178(January 2026): 103585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103585

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Social Safety Nets; Resource Allocation; Gender Equity; Cash Transfers; Diet; Gender; Social Protection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103585 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

Agricultural mechanization policy in Bangladesh: An assessment of the phase III support program and recommendations for reform

2025Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Mahzab, Moogdho; Karim, Md. Aminul; Shamma, Raisa; Belton, Ben; Talukder, Md. Ruhul Amin; Kabir, Razin; Aravindakshan, Sreejith; Krupnik, Timothy J.; Ahmed, Akhter
Details

Agricultural mechanization policy in Bangladesh: An assessment of the phase III support program and recommendations for reform

This report assesses Bangladesh’s Phase III agricultural mechanization support program (2020–2024), examining the distribution, impacts, and governance of subsidies for agricultural machines—particularly combine harvesters (CHs). We analyze program effectiveness and identify critical imple mentation gaps using mixed-methods research combining administrative data analysis; a representative survey of 979 Machinery Service Providers (MSPs), including 400 CH MSPs sampled across 10 districts representing Bangladesh’s major agroecological zones and mechanization intensity; panel data from over 2,000 nationally representative Boro rice–producing households; and 128 qualitative interviews to analyze program effectiveness and pinpoint critical implementation gaps.

Year published

2025

Authors

Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Mahzab, Moogdho; Karim, Md. Aminul; Shamma, Raisa; Belton, Ben; Talukder, Md. Ruhul Amin; Kabir, Razin; Aravindakshan, Sreejith; Krupnik, Timothy J.; Ahmed, Akhter

Citation

Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Mahzab, Moogdho M.; Karim, Md. Aminul; Shamma, Raisa; Belton, Ben; Talukder, Md. Ruhul Amin; et al. 2025. Agricultural mechanization policy in Bangladesh: An assessment of the phase III support program and recommendations for reform. Climate Change X Agriculture Working Paper 1. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176065

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Agricultural Mechanization; Reforms; Subsidies; Combine Harvesters; Surveys

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Abstract

South Asia Nutrition Knowledge Initiative: Abstract digest August 2025

2025International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

South Asia Nutrition Knowledge Initiative: Abstract digest August 2025

The sixth edition of the Abstract Digest underscores a complex and evolving nutrition landscape in South Asia, characterized by the persisting “triple burden” of malnutrition – undernutrition, overweight and obesity, and anemia. The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown to 2030 provides an overarching global and regional assessment of reproductive, maternal, child, and adolescent health and nutrition, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in South Asia. Broadly, the featured articles examine the importance of preconception care and interventions to improve maternal and child health, alongside analyses of antenatal care service utilization and its associated factors. Studies also examine the prevalence and determinants of various forms of malnutrition, and assess the effectiveness and cost-benefit of nutrition programs and interventions, focusing on India and Bangladesh. A few articles focus on adolescent nutrition, highlighting the rising rates of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as opportunities to improve maternal, infant, young child, and adolescent nutrition service delivery in Bangladesh, India, and beyond. Several articles delve into the influence of food environments on dietary quality and health in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, as well as the broader context of health systems and policy implementation in LMICs. Many of the studies in this edition call for future research on rigorous evaluations of scalable interventions in real-world settings. Please scroll down to explore the abstracts of these studies, and information on relevant events. If you were forwarded this Abstract Digest, we invite you to subscribe! Happy reading!

Year published

2025

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute. 2025. South Asia Nutrition Knowledge Initiative: Abstract digest August 2025. SANI Abstract Digest August 2025. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176011

Country/Region

Bangladesh; India; Nepal

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Child Nutrition; Dietary Diversity; Literature Reviews; Maternal Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Abstract

Datasets

Dataset

Clustering for global market access in Bangladesh: Endline survey

2024International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Clustering for global market access in Bangladesh: Endline survey

The “Clustering for Global Market Access Survey” was conducted to assess the impacts of shrimp farm clustering interventions implemented by the Department of Fisheries (DoF), the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF), and a private sector actor. The survey was carried out in two rounds: a baseline in 2023 and an endline in 2024, to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The data presented here are from the endline survey conducted between May 7 and May 31, 2024. Data were collected at the household, cluster, and community levels using a two-stage simple random sampling design and analyzed through a difference-in-differences approach. The household datasets include 1,222 shrimp farms across three districts in southern Bangladesh—Bagerhat, Khulna, and Satkhira. Among these, 622 are cluster farmers, and 600 are non-cluster comparison farmers situated in either the same or adjacent villages to cluster farmers. The data encompass cluster participation, pond characteristics, inputs received from cluster operators, stocking and harvesting, feed and non-feed input use, sales revenue, integrated farming, labor use, credit access, dietary diversity, and food security. The cluster datasets cover 68 shrimp farm clusters, providing insights into cluster composition and training delivered to cluster members. The community datasets provide contextual information on the 136 villages where both cluster and non-cluster farmers reside.

Year published

2024

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2024. Clustering for global market access in Bangladesh: Endline survey. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VQJNLG. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Aquaculture; Shrimp Culture; Value Chains; Market Access; Food Security; Dietary Diversity; Credit; Labor; Income

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/vqjnlg Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

Clustering for global market access in Bangladesh: Baseline survey

2024International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Clustering for global market access in Bangladesh: Baseline survey

The “Clustering for Global Market Access Survey” was conducted to assess the impacts of shrimp farm clustering interventions implemented by the Department of Fisheries (DoF), the Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF), and a private sector actor. The survey was carried out in two rounds: a baseline in 2023 and an endline in 2024, to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. The data presented here are from the baseline survey conducted between November 14 and December 14, 2023. Data were collected at the household, cluster, and community levels using a two-stage simple random sampling design and analyzed through a difference-in-differences approach. The household datasets include 1,222 shrimp farms across three districts in southern Bangladesh—Bagerhat, Khulna, and Satkhira. Among these, 622 are cluster farmers, and 600 are non-cluster comparison farmers situated in either the same or adjacent villages to cluster farmers. The data encompass cluster participation, pond characteristics, inputs received from cluster operators, stocking and harvesting, feed and non-feed input use, sales revenue, integrated farming, labor use, credit access, dietary diversity, and food security. The cluster datasets cover 68 shrimp farm clusters, providing insights into cluster composition and training delivered to cluster members. The community datasets provide contextual information on the 136 villages where both cluster and non-cluster farmers reside.

Year published

2024

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2024. Clustering for global market access in Bangladesh: Baseline survey. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TUXYXQ. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Aquaculture; Shrimp Culture; Value Chains; Market Access; Food Security; Dietary Diversity; Credit; Labor; Income

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/tuxyxq Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

TAFSSA District Agrifood Systems Assessment in Bangladesh 2023: Market Survey

2024International Rice Research Institute; International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

TAFSSA District Agrifood Systems Assessment in Bangladesh 2023: Market Survey

TAFSSA (Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia) is a CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative aimed at advancing equitable access to sustainable healthy diets, enhancing farmers’ livelihoods and resilience, and conserving natural resources such as land, air, and water across South Asia. The TAFSSA district agrifood systems assessment seeks to establish a robust, accessible, and integrated evidence base that connects farm production, market access, dietary patterns, climate risk responses, and natural resource management, with gender considerations integrated throughout. The assessment focuses on rural areas in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, utilizing a district-level, multi-year approach. Data collection took place between February and June 2023 in the Rangpur and Rajshahi districts of Bangladesh. The survey covered 50 villages in each district, focusing on formal and informal multi-vendor markets offering a variety of food products within a 10-kilometer radius of the village centroid. The types of multi-vendor markets included in the survey were village markets, weekly village markets, roadside/street markets, and wholesale markets (mandis). The survey employed pretested, structured questionnaires organized into four distinct modules: 1. Market Manager Module: Captures general information about the market as a whole. 2. Interview-Based Module: Gathers vendor-specific data, including details on the assortment of goods, availability, resilience, food sourcing, wastage, access, and protection dimensions. 3. Observation + Photo Module: Focuses on market infrastructure, food quality, safety, and hygiene, supplemented with photographic documentation. 4. Food List Module: Documents the availability and prices of an extensive range of food items at each location. This comprehensive approach ensures a detailed understanding of agrifood systems at the district level, contributing to evidence-based decision-making for sustainable development.

Year published

2024

Authors

International Rice Research Institute; International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI); International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2024. TAFSSA District Agrifood Systems Assessment in Bangladesh 2023: Market Survey. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/S8LYJR. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Agrifood Systems; Diet; Food Security; Gender Equality; Natural Resources; Climate Change; Waste Disposal; Market Access; Infrastructure

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/s8lyjr Source record

Project

Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia

Record type

Dataset

Blogs

World Breastfeeding Week: Research shows the vital importance of support for mothers and infants
IFPRI Blog
 | 
August 01, 2025

World Breastfeeding Week: Research shows the vital importance of support for mothers and infants

By Jennifer Johnson

Insights from IFPRI research.

Four lessons for financial innovation in agrifood systems
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 01, 2025

Four lessons for financial innovation in agrifood systems

By Kate Ambler, Jeffrey Bloem, Alan de Brauw, Mehrab Bakhtiar, and Eduardo Maruyama

Digital apps and other approaches for modernizing value chains.

Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day: Lessons from research on the food environment in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Viet Nam
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 26, 2025

Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day: Lessons from research on the food environment in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Viet Nam

By Alan de Brauw

Keys to improving diets and nutrition.

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Events

Food Policy for a Changing World: Lessons and Priorities for South Asia
Series/Special Event

 | 

September 16, 2025, 2:30 – 6:15 pm

Food Policy for a Changing World: Lessons and Priorities for South Asia

Agriculture plays a central role in South Asia, providing livelihoods for millions while shaping trade and food systems across the region. Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are major producers of rice, wheat, tea, and spices, with agricultural exports fueling economies and global supply chains. Despite these strengths, the sector faces significant challenges, […]

23rd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

August 24 to 29, 2025

23rd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN)

IFPRI is participating in the 23rd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN), hosted by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) on August 24-29 in Paris, France.  The theme of this year’s congress is “Sustainable Food for Global Health,” bringing together experts to discuss evidence and innovations in nutrition, sustainability, food science, and public health. IFPRI […]

10th annual Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy Week
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

June 16 to 26, 2025

10th annual Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy Week

IFPRI is participating in the 10th annual Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy Week from June 16-26, 2025. The ANH Academy Week is a series of annual events that bring together the community of researchers, practitioners and policymakers working at the intersection of agriculture, food systems, nutrition and health. The objective of the ANH Academy […]

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News

May 12, 2025 | In the News

Fix social protection flaws instead of expanding outlay (The Daily Star)

Bangladesh must urgently redirect resources within its fragmented social protection system and scale up a handful of proven programs that directly benefit the poorest, says IFPRI’s Akhter Ahmed.

February 11, 2024 | In the News

Agricultural growth key to accelerated poverty reduction in Bangladesh (Financial Express)

Senior research fellow and country representative, Akhter Ahmed writes in an op-ed for the Financial Express (Bangladesh) that the country “has witnessed substantial economic growth over the past decade, with an average annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.6 per cent between 2016 and 2022. Notably, the country experienced a 3.4 per cent increase in GDP in 2020, making Bangladesh one […]

April 18, 2023 | In the News

VAT on synthetic felt production likely to fall (Business Post) 

The Business Post (Bangladesh) published a story that cited IFPRI research. An IFPRI report states that 56 percent of Bangladesh’s fish comes from ponds. Fish farming in ponds has increased by almost six times in the last three decades.   The current government has been providing incentives in various ways to encourage fish farming including reducing […]

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Projects

Economywide Risk Assessments

Economywide Risk Assessments

Developed using advanced machine learning, simulation, and data mining techniques, these country briefs provide detailed risk assessments of key economic indicators. Produced by IFPRI, the……

Digital Financial Services Adoption

Digital Financial Services Adoption

…

Impact of COVID-19 on Food Value Chains

Impact of COVID-19 on Food Value Chains

This project studied the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on eight food value chains in three countries: okra, tomatoes, and dairy in Burkina Faso; maize……

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