Din Mohammed Dinu From BAU :The research project "Nexus between Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index, Food and Nutrition Security in Small Livestock Farmers in Bangladesh" is funded by the LDDP. The project has led by Dr. Paresh Kumar Sharma, a Senior Scientific Officer at the Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System (BAURES), BAU, Mymensingh. The project's inception workshop aligning all stakeholders with the project's goals and methodologies.
All project personnel were enrolled on time, ensuring a smooth start to project activities. Initially planning to enrol one MS research fellow, the project managed to enroll three, significantly boosting research capacity. Half-yearly monitoring and evaluation sessions have been conducted twice, showing that the project is progressing smoothly and is on track to achieve all its outlined outcomes and outputs within the set timeframe.
Samiha Sarwar, an MS Research Fellow, completed her thesis focusing on gender relations in dairy livestock production and ownership and their implications for household food security in Bangladesh. She produced two journal articles titled "Farmers' Behavior Intention to Adopt LDDP Intervention towards Food Security: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior" and "The Contribution of Livestock Intervention on Gender Equality, Social Integration, and Women's Empowerment in Bangladesh." Both articles have been submitted to SCOPUS-indexed journals for publication.
Tafsia Mahfuz worked as an MS Research Fellow under the LDDP research and innovation sub-project, focusing on the research titled "Understanding Household Food Security in a Nutrition-Sensitive Livestock Program in Bangladesh: A Mixed Method Approach." She completed her thesis and produced two journal articles: "Participation in Livestock-Based Interventions and Its Impact on Food Security in Bangladesh: A Quasi-Experimental Method" and "Understanding Dairy Livestock Farmers' Intention to Adopt Sociocultural Dynamics for Food Security Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour." Both articles have been submitted to SCOPUS-indexed journals for publication, with a revised copy recently submitted.
Shangida Shabnam has been working as an MS Research Fellow under the LDDP research and innovation sub-project, focusing on the research titled "Biosecurity Measures in Dairy Milk and Meat Value Chains in Selected Areas of Bangladesh." Her research assesses the psychosocial behavior regarding biosecurity measures in the dairy milk and meat value chain in Bangladesh. This involves understanding factors influencing the adoption and adherence to biosecurity practices among value chain actors by exploring their attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, and decision-making processes. Specific objectives include examining the socio-economic characteristics of dairy milk and meat value chain actors, determining the present status of biosecurity among DMVC actors, examining socio-psychological factors influencing the adoption of biosecurity measures, and exploring policy guidelines for ensuring biosecurity measures among DMVC actors. She completed her MS thesis and prepared a manuscript titled "Psychosocial Behaviour to Adopt Biosecurity Measures of Dairy Milk and Meat Value Chain in Bangladesh: A PLS-MGA Approach."
Kbd. Rajib Kumar Roy is a PhD research fellow working on his dissertation titled "Pathways to Food and Nutrition: Livestock Intervention and Ownership Impact on Women's Empowerment and Anthropometric Outcomes in Bangladesh." His research examines the impact of livestock interventions on women's empowerment using the Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) in southern Bangladesh. The study aims to analyze how livestock ownership affects nutritional outcomes and empowers women in rural areas. Rajib has successfully delivered his first seminar on his PhD dissertation, marking a significant milestone in his research journey.
The research project led by Dr. Paresh Kumar Sarma has made significant progress. The enrollment of personnel, the inception workshop, and the monitoring and evaluation sessions indicate a well-managed project. He added The contributions of the MS and PhD research fellows are notable, with several journal articles submitted for publication. The project aims to provide valuable insights into the relationship between women's empowerment, livestock interventions, and food and nutrition security, benefiting small livestock farmers in Bangladesh. The continued efforts and focused research are expected to contribute to the academic community and improve food and nutrition security through women's empowerment in the livestock sector. He said The project started on October 22, 2022, and will last for the three years and the project is on track to achieve its goals.
