The role of homestead fish ponds for household nutrition security in Bangladesh

This paper examines whether income from homestead aquaculture contributes to household nutritional outcomes in developing countries. We used data from 518 homestead aquaculture producers in Bangladesh. We applied a two-stage least squares (2SLS) as well as a three-stage least squares (3SLS) model in a simultaneous equations framework to estimate the effects of aquaculture income on household food consumption and dietary diversity. Homestead aquaculture increased household food consumption and improved dietary diversity by generating additional cash income and stimulating higher fish consumption from home production. Moreover, income from aquaculture helped poor farmers to improve the quality of householder diets by purchasing more calories from the market associated with protein rich and energy-dense food items. Our results have important policy implications for countries with low dietary diversity such as Bangladesh. As Governments tend to undervalue home production by the poor, we emphasize that homestead fish production remains important for many low-income households. Therefore, the Department of Fisheries in Bangladesh should reconsider its view on the role of homestead pond production and give it more recognition in its extension activities.