Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis
Livestock production is a key livelihood strategy in rural Bangladesh, especially for smallholder farmers who often face barriers such as limited access to business services and markets. Increased livestock production is linked to improved household income, nutrition, and health outcomes. This stud...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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| Online Access: | https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1416 |
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| author | Christian Scott Jennifer Himmelstein Jini Kades Arlinda Hajzeri |
| author_facet | Christian Scott Jennifer Himmelstein Jini Kades Arlinda Hajzeri |
| author_sort | Christian Scott |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Livestock production is a key livelihood strategy in rural Bangladesh, especially for smallholder farmers who often face barriers such as limited access to business services and markets. Increased livestock production is linked to improved household income, nutrition, and health outcomes. This study analyzes the USAID-funded Livestock Production for Improved Nutrition (LPIN) Activity, focusing on how livestock service providers’ (LSPs) access to business service providers—analyzed through networks—affects their performance. We find that LSPs with higher network connectivity have significantly greater sales and serve more clients. LPIN-supported LSPs had higher sales but did not serve more clients compared to non-assisted peers. Barriers such as limited access to quality services, gender gaps, and sector-specific challenges were analyzed. Youth and female, youth-owned LSPs showed high network centrality, but this did not always translate into better performance. These findings indicate that while connectivity matters, other structural barriers must be addressed to improve outcomes and foster inclusive growth in the livestock sector. Policy efforts that facilitate higher-quality, reliable business service linkages could be particularly advantageous if they are effectively targeted. Our results demonstrate actors’ willingness to leverage these services to become leading sector network performers.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-747bf79d5bcc4dba97d4b4e93f12bdb1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2152-0801 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
| spelling | doaj-art-747bf79d5bcc4dba97d4b4e93f12bdb12025-08-25T21:33:05ZengLyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsJournal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development2152-08012025-08-0114410.5304/jafscd.2025.144.009Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysisChristian Scott0Jennifer Himmelstein1Jini Kades2Arlinda Hajzeri3ACDI/VOCAACDI/VOCAACDI/VOCAPolitecnico di Milano Livestock production is a key livelihood strategy in rural Bangladesh, especially for smallholder farmers who often face barriers such as limited access to business services and markets. Increased livestock production is linked to improved household income, nutrition, and health outcomes. This study analyzes the USAID-funded Livestock Production for Improved Nutrition (LPIN) Activity, focusing on how livestock service providers’ (LSPs) access to business service providers—analyzed through networks—affects their performance. We find that LSPs with higher network connectivity have significantly greater sales and serve more clients. LPIN-supported LSPs had higher sales but did not serve more clients compared to non-assisted peers. Barriers such as limited access to quality services, gender gaps, and sector-specific challenges were analyzed. Youth and female, youth-owned LSPs showed high network centrality, but this did not always translate into better performance. These findings indicate that while connectivity matters, other structural barriers must be addressed to improve outcomes and foster inclusive growth in the livestock sector. Policy efforts that facilitate higher-quality, reliable business service linkages could be particularly advantageous if they are effectively targeted. Our results demonstrate actors’ willingness to leverage these services to become leading sector network performers. https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1416iinternational developmentmarket accesslivestock managementBangladeshgenderagriculture |
| spellingShingle | Christian Scott Jennifer Himmelstein Jini Kades Arlinda Hajzeri Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development iinternational development market access livestock management Bangladesh gender agriculture |
| title | Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis |
| title_full | Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis |
| title_short | Exploring the Bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis |
| title_sort | exploring the bangladesh smallholder livestock sector through network analysis |
| topic | iinternational development market access livestock management Bangladesh gender agriculture |
| url | https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1416 |
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