Impact of the community-based fish culture system on expenditure and inequality: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of a Community-based Fish Culture (CBFC) system on household expenditure and how expenditure inequality in the fish-producing communities has changed due to involvement in the CBFC system. Six floodplains, comprising three project sites and three controls, were chosen from three river basin areas of Bangladesh; data for this study were collected for a period of 3 yr. A propensity score matching method was used to evaluate the impact of CBFC on household expenditure; while a Gini coefficient and Gini decomposition were used to estimate inequality. The results show that the CBFC system has a positive and significant impact on fish culture community household expenditure. Results also reveal that the CBFC system has an equalization effect on food, clothing, and healthcare expenditure. Furthermore, this management system helps to distribute total expenditure 15% more equally among the fish culture communities.