Abstract
The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of nutritional status between pond fish and non-fish farmers, and also to determine the impacts of pond fish culture on improving livelihoods of the fish farm households of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. The study was conducted using a multi stage random sampling technique. In order to achieve the research objectives, six upazilas were selected purposively based on the highest production of pond fish in Mymensingh. Forty two villages were selected from the 6 upazilas. A total of 10 farmers were selected from each village of which 5 were pond fish farmers and 5 were non-fish farmers with a total sample size of 420. Independent sample t- test was used to assess the differences of socioeconomic status of pond fish and non-fish farmers. Food consumption and calorie intake per capita per day were used in order to compare the nutritional status and food consumption between pond fish and non-fish farmers by using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method. To determine the livelihood capital, Ordered Probit was further used. Finally, constraints Index (CI) was prepared to identify the major problems of pond fish culture in the selected areas. The research findings revealed that the socioeconomic status of pond fish farmers was significantly better than non-fish farmers in terms of their socioeconomic characteristics like education, farm size, household income and expenditure, housing and health. Daily per capita food consumption (1068.07gm), calorie (2245.66 kcal) and protein (79.39 gm) intake were significantly higher for pond fish farmers than non-fish farmers. Nutritional status of the fish farm households was higher compared to the recommended levels. It is forecasted from the model that the average per capita food consumption of pond fish might be increased between 0.228 gm to 0.943 gm per day, which was not statistically significant based on the Nearest Neighbour Matching and Kernel Matching Methods but it was statistically significant (at 1% level) based on the Radius Matching Method. It is also proved that pond fish culture was important to boost up the positive changes of livelihood capitals (human, physical, financial, natural and social) of the pond fish farmers. The study clearly concluded that pond fish culture should be encouraged for the overall improvement of the rural community. The findings and recommendations based on the nutritional status and livelihoods of this study might be helpful to the policy makers to undertake various development interventions in favour of pond fish culture which would ensure the further expansion and sustainable development of pond fish farming in Bangladesh.