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"Economic development projects Bangladesh."
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Do Green Banking Activities Improve the Banks’ Environmental Performance? The Mediating Effect of Green Financing
The main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of green banking activities on green financing and banks’ environmental performance. It also identifies the mediating effect of green financing on the relationship between green banking activities and environmental performance of private commercial banks (PCBs) in Bangladesh. Besides, this study also examines the major challenges and benefits of green banking development in an emerging economy like Bangladesh. The convenience sampling technique was used to collect primary data from bankers of PCBs in Bangladesh, and a final sample size of 352 was recorded. To assess the relationship among the study variables, the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach was employed. The empirical results revealed that green banking activities exhibit a significantly positive effect on banks’ environmental performance and sources of green financing, and that sources of green financing significantly influence banks’ environmental performance. Additionally, it was observed that green financing mediates the association between green banking activities and banks’ environmental performance. Furthermore, the study identified customers’ insufficient awareness towards green banking, high investment costs, technical obstacles, lack of capable and competent staff in appraising green credits/loans, and difficulties and complexity in assessing green projects as major challenges affecting the development of green banking in Bangladesh. Moreover, the study also discovered that increasing banks’ competitiveness, reducing long-term costs and expenses, providing online banking facilities, improving customers’ goodwill, and reducing carbon footprints are the key benefits of green banking development, as it helps in the achievement of the sustainable economic development of the country. Therefore, major theoretical and managerial policy implications are further discussed with study limitations and future research directions.
Journal Article
Hydropower development along Teesta river basin: opportunities for cooperation
The aim of this research is to examine the hydropower development potentials and identifying major hydropower projects along the Teesta river basin that is shared by Bangladesh and India. The upstream of Teesta river basin is located mostly in hilly areas of Sikkim where India plans to produce electricity of over 6,500 MW by developing the hydropower potential of the basin. The downstream basin is densely populated, mostly flat land and has no hydropower potential. As of today, Bangladesh and India have been unable to agree on an integrated development plan for the Teesta river basin. Previous negotiations on Teesta river basin management have focused only on sharing water rather than sharing the wide range of benefits from water resources including hydropower. This paper identified the existing, ongoing and upcoming hydropower development projects. The hydropower sharing opportunity exists between the two riparian countries and this type of natural resource development could reduce economic tensions and provide a platform for sustainable agreements.
Journal Article
Assessing the linkages of economic freedom and environmental quality in South Asian Countries: application of CS-ARDL
We examine the linkages of economic freedom (ECF), energy use, and CO
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emissions in selected South Asian countries of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Annual data from 1995 to 2018 are analyzed by employing second-generation methodologies. Cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) is used because this method incorporates the cross-sectional dependence among the data. This work uses three models, where the dependent variables are gross domestic product (GDP), CO
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emissions, and energy use. The findings reveal that ECF and energy use contributes to more economic development. ECF is improving air quality by lowering CO
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emissions. The findings suggest that these countries need to increase the percentage of renewable energy in their energy generation mix. At the same time, there is a need to integrate ECF with environmental awareness programs. This will not only increase air quality but also increase economic growth. GDP is found to be dependent on energy use; however, increased energy use from non-renewable also contaminates the environment. Therefore, South Asian countries need to invest more in research and development projects to promote renewable energy.
Journal Article
Does the rent of natural resources gear up or slow down the economy? An ARDL bound testing approach in Bangladesh
One of the major sources of financing for development projects of a government in achieving macroeconomic objectives is collecting revenues from taxes and non-tax sources. Rent form resources have an exigent role for the evaluation of economic welfare. Thus, in both the developed and developing economies, natural resources occupy a crucial importance. The novelty of this study counts on the approach to explore the economic growth impacts of natural resources via the transmission channel of its utilization in Bangladesh. The study aims to pursue the influence of resource rent for the period 1990 to 2017. To approach cointegration, autoregressive distributed lag is used. A significant positive influence of rent from resources to growth is found for Bangladesh. This implies proper use of the funds generated through resource rent. Exports, being a vital factor of trade as well as the economy as a whole, should be taken care of which shows negative signs in our study. In the short run, the population growth rate is affecting our economy whereas the effect is reversed in the long run. Domestic credit provided by the financial sector affects negatively and imports as well as gross capital formation have positive signs which is good in the sense that it promotes our country to sustainable development.
Journal Article
Using Outcome Trajectory Evaluation to Assess HarvestPlus’ Contribution to the Development of National Biofortification Breeding Programs
Improving policies—broadly defined—is at the heart of the structural transformation agenda. This paper describes the use of a new evaluation method—outcome trajectory evaluation (OTE), based on both evaluation and policy process theory—to explore the influence of HarvestPlus, a large and complex research for development program focused on improving nutrition, on a specific policy outcome, namely the establishment of biofortification crop breeding programs in national agricultural research institutes in Bangladesh, India, and Rwanda. The findings support claims of significant HarvestPlus contributions while also raising issues that need to be monitored to ensure sustainability. The paper also discusses the pros and cons of the OTE approach in terms of methodological rigor and the accumulation of learning from one evaluation to the next.
Journal Article
Building Capacity in Crisis: Evaluating a Health Assistant Training Program for Young Rohingya Refugee Women
Background: The Rohingya refugee crisis is one of the largest humanitarian emergencies of the 21st century, with nearly one million Rohingya residing in overcrowded camps in southern Bangladesh. Women and children face the greatest vulnerabilities, including inadequate access to education and healthcare, which exacerbates their risks and limits opportunities for personal and community development. While international organizations continue to provide aid, resources remain insufficient, particularly in maternal and child healthcare, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable interventions. Objectives: The Hope Foundation for Women and Children in Bangladesh launched a pilot project for the Health Assistant Training (HAT) program to address critical gaps in healthcare and education for the Rohingya community. This nine-month training program equips young Rohingya women with essential knowledge and skills to support maternal health services in both clinical and community settings. Design: We conducted a qualitative evaluation of the HAT Program to explore its acceptance and anticipated benefits for both participants and the community. Methods: The research team used semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and field observations to explore the HAT Program’s impact on young Rohingya women and their community. They analyzed data through thematic analysis, developing a coding framework and identifying key themes to uncover patterns and insights. Results: The results were categorized into four themes: (1) community acceptance of the HAT Program, (2) the HAT Program’s impact on the health assistant trainees, (3) the impact of the HAT Program on the community, and (4) the potential ways to expand the HAT Program. Conclusions: This research underscores the program’s impact on improving healthcare access, enhancing women’s empowerment, and promoting community resilience. By situating this initiative within the broader context of refugee health, education, and capacity-building, this research highlights the HAT program’s potential as a replicable model in Bangladesh and in other humanitarian settings.
Journal Article
On the potential and constraints of mariculture development in Bangladesh
Development of a blue economy is firmly embedded in the development plans of Bangladesh. Advances in freshwater aquaculture have promoted Bangladesh to the fifth largest fish producer in the world. However, the marine resource base of Bangladesh, which is now even greater following the recent settling of disputes regarding maritime boundaries with neighbouring countries, lends itself to the development of marine aquaculture—known as mariculture. Several potential areas and opportunities for mariculture development have been identified for implementation under the concept of blue economy development in Bangladesh. We identify the most promising fish species as the hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha), seabass (Lates calcarifer) and the grey mullet (Mugil cephalus), and the shrimp species as black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), brown shrimp (Metapenaeus monoceros), Indian white shrimp (Penaeus indicus) and the mud crab (Scylla serata). Further, some non-traditional marine species like seaweed, microalgae, shellfish (mussel, oyster) and the sea cucumber offer considerable potential. However, there remain major challenges and constraints that need to be addressed in order for mariculture to further develop and contribute to a growing blue economy in Bangladesh. Most notably, ministries, departments and research institutions, along with interested private entrepreneurs, must collaborate to formulate strategies for effective development and implementation, so that mariculture can contribute to food security and economic development through export opportunities.
Journal Article
Social, hydro-ecological and climatic change in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh
This study investigates the historical development of the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh through the lens of human-delta co-evolutionary system. The change process of social and hydro-ecological systems is described based on the drivers–pressure–state–impact–response (DPSIR) framework. The multiple physical and socio-economic drivers such as climatic change, upstream development, geologic process, land use change-affected river flow, salinity, water logging and cyclones are creating adverse impacts on ecology (e.g. mangrove forest) and society (e.g. population migration). Existing management practices such as the Coastal Embankment project (CEP) also created adverse impacts on social–ecological system. In addition to the geology of this region that plays the major role in the delta development process, human interventions such as large coastal development projects have intervened the land formation processes. The trends and impacts of these changes along the coast unfold the necessity of integrated management approach such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Comprehensive understanding of social and hydro-ecological system in southwest coastal region through DPSIR approach presented in this study can provide effective solution for implementing ongoing management strategies.
Journal Article
Cross-temporal analysis of disaster vulnerability of the southwest coastal communities in Bangladesh
The Coastal Embankment Project (CEP), one of the largest engineering undertakings in Bangladesh, was commissioned in early 1960s with a view to reclaiming coastal land for enhancing agricultural production. The embankments constructed under the project are questioned for their wide-spread negative impacts on the biophysical and social environments. This research aims to articulate the role of the embankments in exposing the coastal communities to vulnerable situations. Three polders from the districts of Khulna and Satkhira were chosen for case studies. Review of project documents and in-depth interviews were adopted for data collection. Analysis of vulnerability reveals that the perspectives of vulnerability (hazards/perturbations/stressors) change over time and the elements of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity and resilience) manifest in different ways as the embankments transform the coastal social-ecological settings. Findings also show that, despite the havocs the coastal embankments in the southwest of Bangladesh have been causing, the communities still consider them as a lifeline. The coastal embankments have brought a sense of permanence in the communities by creating a flood-free environment and by facilitating many secondary benefits. The communities’ perception of development is centred on the embankments and they believe that a stronger embankment system is vital for enhancement of their overall socio-economic development. This study is useful for understanding the vulnerability dynamics in the context of an ecologically sensitive deltaic plain for preventing development projects from becoming counterproductive.
Journal Article