Does Market Access Improve Dietary Diversity? Evidence from Bangladesh

The persistence of malnutrition resulting from micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries has led to a recent movement for better linkages between agriculture extension and nutrition education in development work. Few empirical studies have examined this link, and previous studies in the agricultural development literature have primarily focused on the link between nutrition and farm diversity, productivity and profitability. Smallholder farmers are often faced with the decision to consume or sell farm products. These joint production and consumption decisions impact household nutrition and dietary diversity. Furthermore, the farmer’s decision may be driven by access to markets for selling products produced by the household or for purchasing food for home consumption. Using primary data from a household-level survey in Bangladesh, this study investigates the effect of agricultural production and market participation on food group consumption. The data was collected from over 1,000 households from two districts in Bangladesh from August to November. The empirical analysis models consumption of various food groups as a function of farm production diversity, access to markets, household income and household characteristics such as age, gender and education of the household head