Men’s Perceptions of Their Roles and Involvement in Household Decisions around Food in Rural Bangladesh : a Case Study
Introduction
Households include a number of decisionmakers who hold varying beliefs about how family members should be involved with food— its purchase, preparation, distribution, consumption, and marketing. Households are complex and dynamic systems, involving gender and generational roles influenced by tradition, culture, circumstances, and historical changes. Taking on a household lens is compatible with a systems’ perspective on agricultural development, such as an agricultural innovation systems framework that incorporates “all the actors in the system and their interactions”, as well as institutions and policies that impact the system and its innovations (Davis & Sulaiman, 2014, p. 7). Continued threats to human health and productivity such as hunger, climate change, poverty and malnutrition have the attention of farmers, scientists, and educators, who search for the keys to good health, food security, community resilience, and the sustainability of food systems. In this context, the interface between agricultural production and nutrition has gained considerable attention as the two work hand-in-hand in improving household health and well-being. However, improvements to agricultural production and technology alone will not automatically improve nutrition (FAO, 2012).
New approaches to agricultural extension call for engaging men and women farmers in participatory learning and supporting their empowerment in decision-making. These changes represent a markedly different approach to assisting farmers from technology transfer to capacity building and human development. Agricultural extension educators who recognize gender and generational differences in decisions around food preparation and marketing will be better prepared to identify the varying needs of household members and facilitate access to the education, training, and resources they need. This includes the capacity to develop, access, and use knowledge, skills, information, and resources (Babu & Joshi, 2015). In fact, the empowerment of members that might otherwise be invisible in agricultural systems can improve nutrition and ultimately, food security and resilience (Helen Keller International, 2014; Lefore, 2015; Muhammad, Maina, Pellerier, & Hickey, 2016; Sulaiman & Davis, 2012).
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Men’s Perceptions of Their Roles and Involvement in Household Decisions around Food in Rural Bangladesh : a Case Study