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COVID-19 induced economic loss and ensuring food security for vulnerable groups: Policy implications from Bangladesh

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  • Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb
  • Mohammed Mainuddin
  • Tetsushi Sonobe

Abstract

At present nearly half of the world’s population is under some form of government restriction to curb the spread of COVID-19, an extremely contagious disease. In Bangladesh, in the wake of five deaths and 48 infections from COVID-19, between March 24 and May 30, 2020, the government imposed a nationwide lockdown. While this lockdown restricted the spread of COVID-19, in the absence of effective support, it can generate severe food and nutrition insecurity for daily wage-based workers. Of the 61 million employed labor force in Bangladesh, nearly 35% of them are paid on a daily basis. This study examines the food security and welfare impacts of the COVID-19 induced lockdown on daily wage workers both in the farm and nonfarm sectors in Bangladesh. Using information from more than 50,000 respondents complied with the 2016–17 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) in Bangladesh, this study estimates daily wage rates as Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 272.2 in the farm sector and BDT 361.5 in the nonfarm sector. Using the estimated daily wage earnings, this study estimates that a one-day complete lockdown generates a US$64.2 million equivalent economic loss only considering the wage loss of the daily wage workers. After estimating the daily per capita food expenditure separately for farm and nonfarm households, this study estimates a minimum compensation package for the daily wage-based farm and nonfarm households around the US $ 1 per day per household to ensure minimum food security for the daily wage-based worker households.

Suggested Citation

  • Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb & Mohammed Mainuddin & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2020. "COVID-19 induced economic loss and ensuring food security for vulnerable groups: Policy implications from Bangladesh," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0240709
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240709
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shobod Deba Nath & Kazi Md. Jamshed & Javed M. Shaikh, 2022. "The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on subsistence consumers' well‐being and coping strategies: Insights from India and Bangladesh," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 180-210, March.
    2. Kea Tijdens & Maarten Klaveren & Ahmed Adib & Daniela Ceccon & Tahreen Tahrima Chowdhury, 2024. "COVID-19, absence from work and coping strategies with income loss in Bangladesh," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 26(1), pages 258-279, April.
    3. Gatto, Marcel, 2021. "Heterogenous Effects of COVID-19 on Rural Livelihoods in Bangladesh: Evidence from a Panel Study," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315875, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Abdullah Kaviani Rad & Redmond R. Shamshiri & Hassan Azarm & Siva K. Balasundram & Muhammad Sultan, 2021. "Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security and Agriculture in Iran: A Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Mohammad, Abdul Malek & Truong, Hoa T. & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2021. "Changes in the Rural Economy in Bangladesh under COVID-19 Lockdown Measures: Evidence from a Phone Survey of Mahbub Hossain Sample Households," ADBI Working Papers 1235, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    6. Liette Vasseur & Heather VanVolkenburg & Isabelle Vandeplas & Katim Touré & Safiétou Sanfo & Fatoumata Lamarana Baldé, 2021. "The Effects of Pandemics on the Vulnerability of Food Security in West Africa—A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-12, November.
    7. Mohammad Abdul Malek & Hoa Thi Truong & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2025. "COVID-19, food insecurity and panic buying behavior: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(1), pages 101-125, February.
    8. Sayema Haque Bidisha & Tanveer Mahmood & Md. Biplob Hossain, 2021. "Assessing Food Poverty, Vulnerability and Food Consumption Inequality in the Context of COVID-19: A Case of Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 187-210, May.
    9. Abu S. Shonchoy & Shatakshee Dhongde & Erdal Asker, 2023. "COVID-19 Lockdown and Neonatal Mortality: Evidence from India," Working Papers 2303, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    10. Collins C. Okolie & Abiodun A. Ogundeji, 2022. "Effect of COVID-19 on agricultural production and food security: A scientometric analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Eiji Yamamura & Youki Koska & Yoshiro Tsutsui & Fumio Ohtake, 2022. "Effect of the COVID-19 vaccine on preventive behaviors: Evidence from Japan," Papers 2203.07660, arXiv.org.

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