The research
Nature-Based Food Systems in Bangladesh
A five-year participatory research programme spanning forty-seven farming households across Mymensingh and Tangail — measuring whether ecological interventions can match or exceed conventional inputs on yield, income, and long-term soil viability.
47
households
12
districts
5
years of data
3
peer-reviewed papers
The problem
Why this research?
Bangladesh's smallholder farming sector relies on chemical inputs that have degraded 38% of its arable soil over three decades. Smallholders — the majority of whom are women who manage household food production but rarely own land — bear the highest cost of this degradation while having the least access to alternatives.
Nature-based solutions exist. Agroforestry, integrated aquaculture-agriculture, composting, and systems-level biodiversity management have all been proven in controlled settings. But controlled settings are not smallholder rice paddies managed by women with one hectare and no extension service. The evidence gap is enormous.
Agro-Feme Septet's project is the first multi-year study to measure these interventions at household scale, with women as lead researchers and co-designers, in Bangladesh's specific agro-climatic context.
How it works
Research phases
Baseline & co-design
2019–2020Household surveys across Mymensingh and Tangail to establish food security, soil health, and gender-disaggregated income baselines. Research protocols co-designed with farmer advisory groups — not imposed.
Field trials
2020–2022System of Rice Intensification (SRI), integrated aquaculture-agriculture, agroforestry buffer strips, and compost demonstration plots. Each household chose which intervention to host; no randomised assignment without consent.
Analysis & dissemination
2022–2023Seasonal yield data, soil biota counts, household income records, and women's decision-making indices analysed against control plots. Results returned to communities in village meetings before academic publication.
Scale & policy
2023–presentReplication in eight new sub-districts. Methodology adopted by the Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture for the national Agro-Ecological Transition Programme. Knowledge transfer to government extension workers underway.
Research ethics
How we work
- Participatory action research — communities co-own the knowledge
- Gender-disaggregated data at all collection points
- Longitudinal soil health monitoring with third-party lab verification
- Annual external impact audit by Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies
- Open-access publication with raw dataset sharing on Zenodo
- No conflict of interest — no agri-chemical industry funding accepted
Collaboration
Partners
We are independent researchers. Our partners fund or advise; they do not direct findings.
- Bangladesh Agricultural University
- Host institution
- BRAC
- Field implementation partner
- FAO South Asia
- Technical advisory
- CGIAR — WorldFish
- Aquaculture research partner
- USAID Feed the Future
- Programme funding