Microcredit and the household food security of the fish farmers: evidence from rural Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

The credit-constrained poor fish farmers in Bangladesh usually have limited access to formal credit institutions. As a result, NGOs took the effort to provide collateral-free microcredit support for the fish farmers to tide over their credit-related problems. This study empirically assesses the impact of microcredit on the household food expenditure of fish farmers. The empirical results challenge the existing literature that access to credit increases the food expenditure of poor fish farmers. However, household assets played a pivotal role in increasing the food expenditure capacity of the fish farmers.

KEYWORDS:

• Microcredit
• food
• security
• expenditure
• Bangladesh

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kazi Tanvir Mahmud

Kazi Tanvir Mahmud, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Southeast University (SEU), Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Asif Parvez

Asif Parvez, Associate Professor, Department of Management, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Shadman Sahir Ahmed

Shadman Sahir Ahmed, Lecturer, Department of Marketing and International Business, North South University (NSU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Farhana Rafiq

Farhana Rafiq, Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh.