For drama and intrigue, the story of food policy reform in Bangladesh is difficult to match.

This chapter examines food-aid trends and motivations and their impact in Bangladesh.

The Government of India issued a wartime Proclamation of Emergency on September 3, 1939, empowering the federal government to enact legislation on any subject it deemed proper—even areas normally within the sole purview of the provincial legislatu

Since the 1940s, the Ministry of Food and its predecessor agencies have been the single largest purchaser, importer, stockholder, and distributor of foodgrains in Bangladesh.

Foodgrain consumption dominates household spending in Bangladesh. On average, rice and wheat consumption accounts for 50 percent of total household expenditure, with this share rising to 64 percent for the poorest households (BBS 1995).

Bangladesh's Green Revolution in foodgrain production has triggered a marketing revolution of far greater proportions.

As recommended by the Agricultural Commission of 1960, the East Pakistan Agricultural Development Corporation was established in 1963.

Bangladesh faces huge obstacles in its efforts to increase foodgrain production, raise rural incomes, and reduce food insecurity.

Two gruesome famines visited Bengal—in 1943 and 1974—on the heels of two great wars. The first descended amid the terrors of World War II, while the second followed in the wake of Bangladesh's brutal war of liberation.

What is Bangladesh's potential for self-sufficiency in rice production? There have been both optimistic and pessimistic answers to that question.

Seed-fertilizer technology has had a dramatic influence on cereal production in many developing economies, including Bangladesh.

Despite recent economic growth, pervasive poverty and undemutrition persist in Bangladesh. According to the latest estimates, about half the population cannot afford an adequate diet (WGTFI 1994; Sen 1992; Ravallion and Sen 1996).

This chapter reviews the case for price stabilization and the continued maintenance of large public foodgrain stocks in Bangladesh.

The transformation in Bangladesh from traditional agriculture to a dynamic and progressively commercial agrarian society is a fascinating process that should interest many developing countries.

This book describes how Bangladesh transformed its food markets and food policies to free the country from the constant threat of famine.

Subsidized credit programs for agricultural producers have often been used to boost production in less developed countries.

Although it is widely believed that food aid distorts incentives to increase agricultural production, detailed empirical country studies conducted in recent years suggest that the disincentive effect of food aid has been overemphasized.

Accelerated growth in agricultural production of developing countries depends on exploiting more fully the existing production potential and continuously raising that potential through technological change.

Policies to strengthen incentives to expand food production through higher food prices are likely to result in short-run reductions in real incomes of food consumers.

Agricultural production is typically a risky business. Farmers face a variety of price, yield, and resource risks which make their incomes unstable from year to year. In many cases farmers are also confronted by the risk of catastrophe.