Rural Bangladesh: socio-economic profiles of WFP operational areas and beneficiaries

The overall purpose of the study was to develop a socio-economic profile of WFP’s six priority rural areas of Bangladesh based on a logical framework of the linkages between food security, nutritional status, livelihoods, and socio-economic indicators.
The study sought to characterise major issues and causes of food security and food insecurity; identify the poorest and most food insecure communities and households within the six priority rural areas of the country, shed light on the coping strategies of poor households vulnerable to transitory food insecurity, develop analytical indicators for measuring food insecurity and targeting beneficiary selection criteria for the country programme 2007-2010, and provide recommendations on potential interventions to realize improved livelihoods, enhanced food security, and modified safety nets targeting the ultra poor.