Only a quarter of farming families consume recommended level of micronutrients per head, according to a study.
"It is alarming that only 25 per cent of the farm households consume the recommended level of per capita vitamin A," said the study.
State-controlled think-tank Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) conducted the study.
The study titled "Crop Diversification for Dietary Diversity and Nutrients Intake: Evidence from Bangladeshi Farm Households," which was released in February.
Lack of diversity in crop production could be one of the major reasons for micronutrient deficiencies in households, a study has revealed.
Households, which are more diversified in crop production, have the probability of having more diversity in dietary intake compared to their counterparts with lower crop diversification, according to the study.
The study found the volume of crop production decreased between fiscal year 2011-12 and 2014-15(FY15).
The quantity of crop production was 11,895.79 tonnes in FY12, which decreased to 10,231.56 tonnes in FY15.
Many households are unaware of micro nutrients such as vitamin A and also might have inadequate knowledge about foods enriched with micro nutrients, it said.
The main objective of this study was to explore the linkages, if any, among household crop diversification, household dietary diversity and per capita nutrients intake of the households.
The study recommended that Bangladesh should be given more focus on raising dietary diversity and household income; and more incentives for increased crop production and homestead gardening to reduce the gap between Bangladeshi child nutrition indicators and global standards.
Over the years, households have been getting more diversified in favor of non-rice crop production but in terms of actual crop diversification, households are getting less diversified day by day.
Increasing per capita income of households boosts diet diversity, per capita calorie, protein, iron, zinc and vitamin-A intake, but it has not improved in crop diversification, per capita calorie, iron and zinc intake, according to the study.
Moreover, household income is a strong determinant for both dietary diversity and nutrients intake.
It is also found that there is no significant association between crop diversification and dietary diversity, but there is a negative and significant association between dietary diversity and per capita calorie intake among the farm households.
Moreover, crop diversification could have an impact on food security, nutrition and health, secure source of income, employment and high-value products, and could prove to be the resilience of farming systems and environment.
In Bangladesh, approximately 40 per cent of people consume food below the absolute poverty line food intake.
Additionally, congenial production and market environment would have to be ensured to induce people to diversify production and consumption of non-rice foods.
This study suggested that cost-effective means for the elimination of nutrition gap needs to be devised.
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