The role of learning in technology adoption: Evidence on hybrid rice adoption in Bihar, India

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The role of learning in technology adoption: Evidence on hybrid rice adoption in Bihar, India by : Gars, Jared

Download or read book The role of learning in technology adoption: Evidence on hybrid rice adoption in Bihar, India written by Gars, Jared and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-12-22 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much empirical research has shown that individuals’ decisions to adopt a new technology are the result of learning–both through personal experimentation through observing the experimentation of others. Yet even casual observation would suggest significant heterogeneity of learning processes, manifesting itself in widely varying patterns of adoption over space and time. This paper explores this heterogeneity in the context of early adoption of hybrid rice in rural India. Using specially designed experiments conducted as part of a primary survey in the field, we identify which of four broad learning heuristics most accurately reflects individuals’ information processing strategies. Linking these learning heuristics with observed use of rice hybrids, we demonstrate that pure Bayesian learning is well suited for the tinkering and marginal adjustments that are required to learn about a technology like hybrid rice, but it is also more cognitively taxing than other learning styles requiring a longer memory and more complex updating processes. Consequently, only about 25 percent of the farmers in our sample can be characterized as pure Bayesian learners. Present-biased learning and relying on first impressions will likely hinder adoption of a technology like hybrid rice, even after controlling for access to credit and a rudimentary proxy for intelligence.

Evaluating the adoption and impacts of agricultural technologies

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Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
ISBN 13 : 2832541283
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (325 download)

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Book Synopsis Evaluating the adoption and impacts of agricultural technologies by : Francisco Areal

Download or read book Evaluating the adoption and impacts of agricultural technologies written by Francisco Areal and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-12-18 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of U.S. Agriculture

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309170346
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of U.S. Agriculture by : National Research Council

Download or read book Publicly Funded Agricultural Research and the Changing Structure of U.S. Agriculture written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-03-18 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested that the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Research Council (NRC) convene a panel of experts to examine whether publicly funded agricultural research has influenced the structure of U.S. agriculture and, if so, how. The Committee to Review the Role of Publicly Funded Agricultural Research on the Structure of U.S. Agriculture was asked to assess the role of public-sector agricultural research on changes in the size and numbers of farms, with particular emphasis on the evolution of very-large-scale operations.

A Regional Computable General Equilibrium Model for Honduras

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Author :
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis A Regional Computable General Equilibrium Model for Honduras by : Samuel Morley

Download or read book A Regional Computable General Equilibrium Model for Honduras written by Samuel Morley and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-03-15 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Evaluating the local economywide impacts of irrigation projects: Feed the future in Tanzania

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Author :
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Evaluating the local economywide impacts of irrigation projects: Feed the future in Tanzania by : Mateusz Filipski

Download or read book Evaluating the local economywide impacts of irrigation projects: Feed the future in Tanzania written by Mateusz Filipski and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-03-04 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite years of development interventions, agricultural productivity in Africa south of the Sahara still trails far behind all other continents, leaving many rural populations in dire poverty. This suggests that our understanding of the impacts of agricultural development projects is still imperfect; perfecting it is likely to be a crucial step in achieving development. Projects that raise agricultural productivity, in addition to directly affecting farmers, can have an impact on local prices, wages, and rents, especially in rural areas of Africa, which tend to be less-than-perfectly integrated with outside markets. Price changes, in turn, transmit project impacts to others within the local economy. This paper presents the findings of a local economywide impact evaluation of Feed the Future irrigation projects in the Morogoro region of Tanzania, using a local economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) simulation model. The findings indicate that these irrigation projects can generate important indirect impacts within the region. The structure of local markets, as well as labor and land availability, shapes project spillovers in ways that point to future directions for development assistance in the region.

Opportunities and Challenges for Community Involvement in Public Service Provision in Rural Guatemala

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 18 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Opportunities and Challenges for Community Involvement in Public Service Provision in Rural Guatemala by : Johanna Speer

Download or read book Opportunities and Challenges for Community Involvement in Public Service Provision in Rural Guatemala written by Johanna Speer and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of the research summarized in this paper is to provide policy-relevant knowledge on the governance of rural services in Guatemala and thus to contribute to improving the provision of services that are essential for agricultural and rural development. Almost 10 years ago, the Guatemalan government decided to strengthen decentralization and community participation to improve the quality of public services, as well as access to these services for the poor, especially in rural areas. Based on quantitative and qualitative primary data, we examine how services are actually provided today and how community preferences and participation affect service provision in rural Guatemala. Our main finding is that the provision of formally decentralized services by local governments is incomplete. As a result, many rural communities continue to lack access to services, and some of them engage in supplying these services themselves. However, communities do not consider themselves to be more effective at service provision and would therefore prefer to be served by the government. Moreover, we find that community participation in the planning and evaluation of services has a positive impact on the responsiveness of the local government’s service provision. However, the effectiveness of community participation varies greatly among the examined cases, with several participatory governance bodies not functioning properly due to low education levels, poverty, and weak civil-society organization.

A Global Assessment of the Economic Effects of Export Taxes

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis A Global Assessment of the Economic Effects of Export Taxes by : David Labordew

Download or read book A Global Assessment of the Economic Effects of Export Taxes written by David Labordew and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study has been undertaken to understand and evaluate the potential negative consequences of export taxes which are implemented by many countries today and which are not disciplined by any international agreement. This paper uses a new detailed global dataset on export taxes at the HS6 (Harmonized System 6 level) level and the MIRAGE (Modeling International Relationships in Applied General Equilibrium) global computable general equilibrium model to assess the impact of export taxes on the world economy. We find that limitations on export taxes would have worldwide effects: the average export tax on global merchandise trade was 0.48 percent in 2007, with the bulk of these taxes imposed on energy products. The removal of these taxes would increase global welfare by 0.23 percent, which is a larger figure than the expected gains from the World Trade Organization’s Doha Development Round. Both developed and emerging economies, such as China and India, would gain from such policies, even if they currently impose export taxes. Medium and small food-importing countries without market power (such as the least-developed countries) would also benefit from the elimination of export restrictions, especially during food crisis situations. Both the energy sector and the export taxes implemented by Commonwealth of Independent States countries appear to play a critical role in the overall economic impact of such a policy change. However, the fact that some countries, such as Argentina, would experience income losses due to such a policy change is a major challenge to overall positive reform in this area.

Overview of the agricultural modernization in Southeast Asia

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 45 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Overview of the agricultural modernization in Southeast Asia by : Takeshima, Hiroyuki

Download or read book Overview of the agricultural modernization in Southeast Asia written by Takeshima, Hiroyuki and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the importance of Southeast Asia (SEA) region in the world for economy and agriculture, and despite reported evidence of the modernization of various aspects of the agricultural sector, the information has not been compiled in ways that provides more representative insights of the regions, as well as chronological, dynamic perspectives across different aspects of the overall agricultural developments. This report partly fills this knowledge gap by summarizing the key characteristics in SEA region of the agricultural development, as well as changes in related outcomes, such as nutrition, natural resource endowments, and the labor movement into non-farm economies. In doing so, the report gathers secondary cross-country data on key aspects of the agricultural modernization and diversification. Overall, the SEA region has seen a relatively fast movement of labor out of the agricultural sector into non-farm sectors including trade, restaurants and hotel industries in the last few decades, leading to higher labor productivity growth than land productivity growth. Despite the important roles of trade, the agricultural production within the region and in each country continues to account for important sources of food and nutrition. The modern production technologies and inputs have spread constantly within the region, but with considerable time lags across countries. The growth of vegetable oils and aquaculture production have been considerable, and contrast with South Asia (SA)where similar patterns have been observed for vegetables and milk production. The public sector has played important roles in agricultural research and development (R&D)on genetic improvements, and infrastructure development, while keeping the nominal assistance to the sector through market interventions to a relatively modest level, which has been accompanied by the significant growth of the private-sector participation in the provisions of inputs, services and agricultural finance. The agricultural modernization in SEA region has, however, been also associated with some negative outcomes, including continued degradation of natural resources like water and forest areas in which SEA has been relatively rich historically, and gradual increases in certain types of malnutrition including overweight and diabetes.

The Changing Economics of Medical Technology

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 030904491X
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis The Changing Economics of Medical Technology by : Institute of Medicine

Download or read book The Changing Economics of Medical Technology written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans praise medical technology for saving lives and improving health. Yet, new technology is often cited as a key factor in skyrocketing medical costs. This volume, second in the Medical Innovation at the Crossroads series, examines how economic incentives for innovation are changing and what that means for the future of health care. Up-to-date with a wide variety of examples and case studies, this book explores how payment, patent, and regulatory policiesâ€"as well as the involvement of numerous government agenciesâ€"affect the introduction and use of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures. The volume also includes detailed comparisons of policies and patterns of technological innovation in Western Europe and Japan. This fact-filled and practical book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, health administrators, health care practitioners, and the concerned public.

Factor Endowments, Wage Growth, and Changing Food Self-Sufficiency

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Author :
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 20 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Factor Endowments, Wage Growth, and Changing Food Self-Sufficiency by : Keijiro Otsuka

Download or read book Factor Endowments, Wage Growth, and Changing Food Self-Sufficiency written by Keijiro Otsuka and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-02-26 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Asian countries have witnessed a sharp increase in real wage as a result of rapid economic growth and structural transformation in recent years. Using a country level panel data from 1980 to 2010, this paper examines the effects of real wage increase on Asian agriculture that traditionally used family labor intensively on small farms. The empirical evidence supports our hypothesis that an increase in real wages, along with absorptions of labor into nonagricultural sectors, has been inducing the substitution of labor by machines in agriculture. However, this process is less successful in the countries that are constrained by their small operational land sizes, resulting in lowered land productivity. We also demonstrated that dynamic changes in yield are an important determinant of food self-sufficiency ratio. The above findings imply that in the near future, Asian agriculture can face a challenge in maintaining domestic food production. Given the large size of consumer demands in the region and its increasing trend, the future path of Asian agriculture could be a significant constraint on the global food supply–demand balance.

Parametric Decomposition of the Malmquist Index in an Output-Oriented Distance Function

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Parametric Decomposition of the Malmquist Index in an Output-Oriented Distance Function by : Bingxin Yu

Download or read book Parametric Decomposition of the Malmquist Index in an Output-Oriented Distance Function written by Bingxin Yu and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-02-25 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The paper extends the methodology of parametric decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index using an output distance function. This approach addresses common methodological issues in total factor productivity estimation to produce credible and relevant results. The Malmquist index can be decomposed into several components: technical change (further broken down into technical change magnitude, input bias, and output bias), technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change, and output-mix effect. A translog output distance function is chosen to represent the production technology, and each component of the Malmquist index is computed using the estimated parameters. This parametric approach allows us to statistically test hypotheses regarding different components of the Malmquist index and the nature of production technology. The empirical application to Chinese agriculture shows that productivity grows at 2 percent per year on average from 1978 through 2010. The growth is mostly driven by technical change, which is found to be technology neutral.

Rising Wages in Bangladesh

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Rising Wages in Bangladesh by : Xiaobo Zhang

Download or read book Rising Wages in Bangladesh written by Xiaobo Zhang and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-03-11 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using data from multiple sources, we show that in Bangladesh, the increase in real wages, particularly female wages, has accelerated since the late 2000s, suggesting that the Lewis turning point (the point at which the labor market starts to shift in favor of workers) has arrived in Bangladesh. Rising wages are likely a result of a combination of more ample job opportunities in the nonfarm sector, especially in the manufacturing sector for females, and a greater amount of remittances, primarily from male workers overseas. Since human capital is the most important asset for the poor, the escalation in real wages has boosted the poor’s earnings, thereby reducing their likelihood of being poor.

Agricultural Trade

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Agricultural Trade by : David Laborde

Download or read book Agricultural Trade written by David Laborde and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper, we provide an overview of the agricultural trade negotiations within the current World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and we show that including agriculture in the Doha Development Agenda talks is important both economically and politically, although the political resistance to reform is particularly strong in this sector. While agriculture accounts for less than 10 percent of merchandise trade, high and variable agricultural distortions appear to cause the majority of the cost of distortions to global merchandise trade. Within agriculture, most of the costs appear to arise from trade barriers levied on imports, since these barriers tend to be high, variable across time and over products, and levied by a wide range of countries. The negotiations face a need for balance between discipline in reducing tariffs—hence creating the market access gains that are central to the negotiations—and flexibility in managing political pressures. While the approach of providing flexibility on a certain percentage of tariff lines is seriously flawed, the proposed modalities still appear to provide worthwhile market access. Better ways appear to be needed to deal with developing countries’ concerns about food price volatility while reducing the collective-action problems resulting from price insulation.

Impact of Food Price Changes on Household Welfare in Ghana

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Impact of Food Price Changes on Household Welfare in Ghana by : Nicholas Minot

Download or read book Impact of Food Price Changes on Household Welfare in Ghana written by Nicholas Minot and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-02-25 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of the global food crisis of 2007–08 and additional price spikes since then, greater attention has been given to the welfare impact of food price increases in developing countries. The standard approach in this type of analysis, proposed by Deaton (1989), is based on income and expenditure data from household surveys. Given the widespread use of this method, it is important to revisit the assumptions behind it and examine the sensitivity of results to those assumptions. In this paper, we explore the distributional impact of higher maize, rice, and food prices in Ghana and analyze the robustness of those results to changes in several key assumptions. The results suggest that higher maize and rice prices have a relatively modest short-term impact on national poverty but significant effects on specific groups of households. As expected, urban households lose from higher grain prices, but a surprisingly large share of rural households also lose because they are net buyers. The results also suggest that the current policy of protecting domestic rice producers with an import tax does not contribute to national poverty reduction, in spite of the fact that rice growers tend to be poor. If we relax the assumption that households do not respond to the higher prices, the effects are more positive or less negative, but only modestly so. On the other hand, if we relax the assumption that producer and consumer prices rise by the same proportion, and instead assume a constant marketing margin, the results change substantially. Because producer prices now rise by a larger proportion than consumer prices, the impact of higher prices is much more positive. These findings highlight the need for more research on the effect of price spikes on marketing margins.

Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 38

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Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118916832
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (189 download)

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Book Synopsis Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 38 by : Jules Janick

Download or read book Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 38 written by Jules Janick and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-11-17 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plant Breeding Reviews presents state-of-the-art reviews on plant genetics and the breeding of all types of crops by both traditional means and molecular methods. Many of the crops widely grown today stem from a very narrow genetic base; understanding and preserving crop genetic resources is vital to the security of food systems worldwide. The emphasis of the series is on methodology, a fundamental understanding of crop genetics, and applications to major crops. It is a serial title that appears in the form of one or two volumes per year.

A Partial Equilibrium Model of the Malawi Maize Commodity Market

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Author :
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis A Partial Equilibrium Model of the Malawi Maize Commodity Market by : Mariam A. T. J. Mapila

Download or read book A Partial Equilibrium Model of the Malawi Maize Commodity Market written by Mariam A. T. J. Mapila and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-03-29 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents a model of the Malawi maize commodity market that is developed for use as a policy analysis tool. The model captures national and local maize market dynamics and the linkages existing within the maize market in the country. This research has been undertaken in order to provide policy makers with a robust tool which can be used to simulate the impact of policy changes on markets and households. Such a tool ensures the availability of evidence for informing food and agricultural policies. The model is a multiequation partial equilibrium model of the national maize market in Malawi. It is developed and linked in a top-down unidirectional manner to the local maize economy via a price linkage equation. A nonbehavioral arithmetic microaccounting approach is used to estimate rural household incomes that are linked to the local economy, through which macroeconomic-level maize price changes transmit. The model can be used as a tool for analyzing the impacts of macroeconomic and agricultural policy changes on the maize industry as well as on rural households that rely on maize. The novelty of the model is that it takes into account the interrelationships between farm/household, local-economy, and national maize market prices, as well as economic theory and existing empirical evidence, to build a framework that is capable of linking to the macroeconomy rural subsistence households that are traditionally deemed to have few or no backward and forward linkages.

Securing food for all in Bangladesh

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Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 : 9845063713
Total Pages : 624 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (45 download)

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Book Synopsis Securing food for all in Bangladesh by : Ahmed, Akhter, ed.

Download or read book Securing food for all in Bangladesh written by Ahmed, Akhter, ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-11-05 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Securing Food for All in Bangladesh presents an array of research that collectively address four broad issues: (1) agricultural technology adoption; (2) input use and agricultural productivity; (3) food security and output market; and (4) poverty, food security, and women’s empowerment. The fifteen chapters of the book address diverse aspects within these four themes. Access to sufficient food by all people at all times to meet their dietary needs is a matter of critical importance. Despite declining arable agricultural land, Bangladesh has made commendable progress in boosting domestic food production. The growth in overall food production has been keeping ahead of population growth, resulting in higher per capita availability of food over time. In the early 1970s, Bangladesh was a food-deficit country with a population of about 75 million. Today, the population is 165 million, and the country is now self-sufficient in rice production, which has tripled over the past three decades. Along with enhanced food production, increased income has improved people’s access to food. Furthermore, nutritional outcomes have improved significantly. Nevertheless, the challenges to food and nutrition security remain formidable. Future agricultural growth and food and nutrition security are threatened by population growth, worsening soil fertility, diminishing access to land and other scarce natural resources, increasing vulnerability of crop varieties to pests and diseases, and persistent poverty leading to poor access to food. In addition, the impacts of climate change—an increase in the incidence of natural disasters, sea intrusion, and salinity—will exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity in the coming decades if corrective measures are not taken. Aligned with this context, the authors of the book explore policy options and strategies for developing agriculture and improving food security in Bangladesh. Securing Food for All in Bangladesh, with its breadth and scope, will be an invaluable resource for policymakers, researchers, and students dedicated to improving people’s livelihoods in Bangladesh.