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The paper discussed in this article particularly addressed the potentials to achieve demographic dividend (DD) of Bangladesh, importance of knowledge management, and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also discussed the challenges in a general observation, not in-depth economic analysis, although some general statistics were cited. United Nations (UN) formulation SDGs, 2016-30 agenda was addressed to promote socio-economic development and environmental sustainability. Bangladesh has experience in achieving most of the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs: 1990-2015), formulated by the UN for the same interest. As knowledge management for development issues is a vital ingredient and there is no way to ignore for any kind of development of its sharing and dissemination. Under this light, the paper tried to focus its importance and significance and ways of cultivation for sharing so that the communities concerned can take benefit. A reciprocal relation tried to highlight between knowledge management, SDGs, and DD. Finally some recommendations were formulated from the experience of achieving DD and SDGs. Knowledge management policy adaptation was also recommended for in-time decision-making process relating to those achievements. Information literacy was also addressed in brief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public–Private Partnerships are touted as a 'silver bullet' to address issues surrounding the sustainability of community-based ICT projects. This paper considers the PPP's role in the provision of sustainable services at community access sites in Bangladesh and the Philippines. A comparative analysis of current community access operations in Bangladesh and the Philippines has been made in this study. The study investigates how the different adopted contract approaches (PPP vs. Public) have impacted the telecenter infrastructure attributes, and specifically, the impact on the types of services offered at telecenter sites. The data collection procedure utilized a mixed-methods approach, including user surveys, combined with telecenter operator interviews, and site observations. Simple descriptive statistics were used to compare the quantitative data collected regarding each of the telecenter infrastructures and telecenter services. This analysis contributes to the current understanding of telecenters concerning the adoption of PPPs toward the sustainability of public access initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global fossil fuel reserves are declining due to differential uses, especially for power generation. Everybody can help to do their bit for the environment by using solar energy. Geographically, Bangladesh is a potential zone for harnessing solar energy. In March 2021, the renewable generation capacity in Bangladesh amounted to 722.592 MW, including 67.6% from solar, 31.84% from hydro, and 0.55% from other energy sources, including wind, biogas, and biomass, where 488.662 MW of power originated from over 6 million installed solar power systems. Concurrently, over 42% of rural people still suffer from a lack of electricity, where solar energy can play a vital role. This paper highlights the present status of various forms of solar energy progress in Bangladesh, such as solar parks, solar rooftops, solar irrigation, solar charging stations, solar home systems, solar-powered telecoms, solar street lights, and solar drinking water, which can be viable alternative sources of energy. This review will help decision-makers and investors realize Bangladesh's up-to-date solar energy scenario and plan better for the development of a sustainable society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper aimed to summarise and critically synthesise the key findings of the articles included in the supplement entitled 'Nutrition Implementation Science: The Experience of a Large-Scale Home Fortification in Bangladesh'.Design: Commentary, summary and synthesis.Settings: Low- and middle-income country.Results: The supplement included six articles, including this summary paper. The second article presented an implementation science framework that facilitated conceptualising and evaluating the home-fortification programme in Bangladesh implemented by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The framework encompasses five components: identifying an 'effective' intervention; scaling-up and implementation fidelity; course corrections during implementation and assessing the implementation's effectiveness; promoting sustainability of interventions and consideration of a concurrent evaluation to identify 'effective' interventions and to assess the process and outcome indicators of implementation. The other four articles in this supplement addressed the different components of the framework. For example, the third article addressed the implementation fidelity of a home-fortification programme, and the fourth article described the use of concurrent evaluation to course correct the implementation plan that resulted in improved implementation fidelity. The fifth article explained the outcome of course correction in the programme coverage, and the sixth article described the cost-effectiveness of the BRAC home-fortification programme.Conclusions: Overall, the supplement provides a comprehensive understanding of nutrition implementation science, which is very new in the field. The lessons learned in this supplement may enhance the capacity of researchers, policymakers and key stakeholders in the nutrition field to scale up new nutrition interventions and sustain them until malnutrition is alleviated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyzes South Asia's energy trilemma balancing energy access, security and sustainability. • Focuses on four major regional countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. • Identifies major challenges as lack of energy access, unreliable gird, and unaffordable prices. • Explores the prospects of renewable energy as the key toward a sustainable energy transition. • Presents stakeholder perspectives on crucial dynamics of energy transition. To address the faced challenges – i.e. rapidly growing energy needs, depleting fossil fuel reserves, surging energy prices, risks to security of supplies, and climate change – the World is targeting a sustainable energy transition. This energy transition is primarily propelled by a global decarbonization drive. South Asia, a developing region housing over 23% of the global population, faces the additional challenge of serious energy deprivation. The subject of energy transition has not been explored in the South Asian context in terms of drivers, challenges, and prospects. This paper investigates the prospects of sustainable energy transition in South Asia in terms of resources, consumption trends, and challenges encountered by countries in the region, particularly India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It also examines the sustainable and renewable energy options for the region. An original stakeholder survey provides salient behavioral insights into awareness, attitudes and opinions shaping societal response to energy transition. The findings of the study highlight the serious energy security issues faced by the region in terms of lack of access, inconsistent supplies, unreliable grids, and high energy prices. Renewables like solar energy, wind power, and hydropower have the potential to propel regional countries to energy and environmental sustainability. "Lack of consistent policies and regulations", "lack of political will" and "lack of investment" are found to be the three most important challenges to the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the viability of utilizing agricultural biomass-based energy potential, employing mathematical, engineering, and economic modeling techniques. Moreover, the potential of a biogas-based co-digestion (CD) system, integrating its techno-economic performance and environmental sustainability in terms of electricity generation, has also been studied. In this investigation, the categorization of 25 different plant species into two groups: arable field crops (AFCs) and horticultural plants (HPs), was performed. Data was collected during the 2021‐–2022 cropping season in Bangladesh from various sources, including literature reviews, governmental, and non-governmental organizations. The findings revealed that the available agricultural biomass residues, totaling 1,02,585.75 KT, have the capacity to generate 1,33,815 million m3/year of biogas. This energy potential corresponds to 291,125.85 TJ/year or 9231.60 MW of electricity, which can fulfill 88% of the national total energy demand. In terms of levelized cost, the proposed approach is more competitive and shows a greater promise compared to other technologies. Furthermore, it demonstrates environmental friendliness by reducing CO 2 emissions by 156 tons at a cost of $7/ton while earning $1092 annually from the potential carbon-credit market. This approach presents a potential solution to address Bangladesh's energy crisis. The payback period of the system ranged from 2.93 to 3.75 years, with and without the inclusion of a slurry, respectively. The recommended methods hold significant promise for meeting national energy demands. A case study was provided as a proof-of-concept (PoC) to validate the approach. This study is the first of its kind, providing valuable insights into the renewable energy potential in Bangladesh. The results will assist policymakers in formulating sustainable energy policies. • Mathematics, engineering, economics and environmental modeling explored renewable energy. • Techno-economics and environmental sustainability validated the proposed methodology. • Bioenergy-based electricity could supply 88% of the national energy demand of Bangladesh. • A case study was provided as a proof-of-concept (PoC) to validate the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh has encountered several challenges, including issues like overpopulation, energy shortage, and global warming for the last few decades. Addressing the increasing energy demand has become a crucial concern because of rapid increase in population and lack of growth in the economic. The electricity production of a country heavily relies on fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, which makes up approximately 54% of the current installed capacity. Bangladesh is an agrarian nation and biomass stands out as a source of renewable energy having significant potential to mitigate the demand for heat and electricity. Biomass resources in the country mainly comprise animal dung, agricultural crop residuals, solid waste from municipalities and forest residues. The existing biomass resources contribute to producing a high amount of energy and content of around 1574.16 PJ of energy equivalent to 437.28 TWh of electricity in which agricultural residues, animal manure, municipal solid waste, and forest residues impart around 852.32 PJ, 399.04 PJ, 112.16 PJ, and 210.64 PJ of energy respectively. This paper explores the extent, possibilities, and technologies associated with biomass energy conversion. Additionally, the study delves into the several biomass projects that the government, as well as non-governmental groups, are working on for environmental sustainability along with plans, challenges, and methods that are being utilized to encourage biomass technologies across Bangladesh. [Display omitted] • The biomass potentiality in Bangladesh for heat and electricity generation is emphasized. • The energy scenario and necessity of alternative energy sources in Bangladesh are discussed. • The available energy conversion technologies from biomass in Bangladesh are presented. • The existing biomass resource content of around 1574.16 PJ (437.28 TWh of electricity) of energy. • The economic aspects and challenges of biomass conversion into energy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Approximately 250 MW of power can be recovered from waste in Bangladesh. • A detailed thermoeconomic model based on incineration technology is presented. • Exergoeconomic analysis shows plant cost is affected more by operational costs. • COE of proposed plant is 53.9 USD/MWh, comparable to existing power plants. • Proposed plants have better environmental efficiencies than coal, oil power plants. With a population of 165 million, Bangladesh is undergoing rapid industrialization and urban development, and is well on track to move out from the group of least developed countries by 2024. This results in a significant increase in the urban energy needs and the amount of generated waste. Most of the municipal solid waste in Bangladesh is currently deposited in landfills, thereby contaminating nearby cultivable soils. It is desirable to have a system that recovers energy from the municipal solid waste in order to satisfy the increasing energy needs, while simultaneously addressing the land scarcity and pollution issues. This paper proposes using incineration to recover energy from municipal solid waste to produce electricity in the urban areas of Dhaka and Chattogram. A detailed technical analysis involving energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, and emission is presented. The power plants in these two cities show potential capacities of 169 MW and 83 MW respectively, with exergoeconomic factors of 61 %. The results indicate energy and exergy efficiencies of 32 % and 27 %, respectively, and a production cost in the range of 53.9–56.7 USD/MWh which is comparable to the production cost from the current power plants in Bangladesh. The proposed plants also result in a reduction in the greenhouse emissions and exhibit ecological efficiencies of over 87 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of urban transformations, water governance has received global attention due to its growing complexities in responding to wicked and multifaceted challenges, such as rapidly growing populations, increased resource demand and uncertain climate futures. To date, much of the empirical research on water governance and urban transformations has examined developed cities, with limited investigation of developing cities. This paper therefore aims to enrich current empirical insights regarding the evolution of, and key shifts within urban water governance in Bangladesh. Drawing on recent developments in sustainability transitions and urban water governance scholarship, the paper charts 250 years of water resource development in Bangladesh. Analysis of primary and secondary qualitative data sources revealed five major periods between 1757 and 2016 that represent key changes to governance approaches that underpinned sectoral changes. Although the shifts in governance approaches have cumulatively improved the adaptive capacity of Bangladesh’s urban water system, they have not been framed to provide guidance and facilitation for driving on-ground change, which may be inhibiting a sustainable transformation of Bangladesh’s urban water sector. Nevertheless, the insights do provide important foundations for informing the development of new governance models capable of dealing with multi-scale strategies for supporting a sustainability transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Bangla Baton' house is a unique urban vernacular archetype that has historically evolved from the Assamese style houses and later modified by adapting to the local context of the Sylhet region. These types of houses bring out the rich urban history of Sylhet city and carry significant values of the socio-cultural, environmental, and architectural aspects of the region. Unfortunately, due to high land prices, rapid urbanization, and population growth, they are at high risk of destruction. This research is an interpretation to enhance motivation to make the local community understand the heritage values of this house type. The key objective of this research is to introduce this house form as an element of 'Cultural Heritage' by identifying and analyzing its values and assessing the sustainability factors in terms of the environmental and climatic issues of the region. Because of the lack of sufficient literature data, field surveybased observational data were used as the primary approach to identify the significant elements of 'Cultural Heritage' of 'Bangla Baton' house types. Criteria and indicator-based approach were adopted to assess heritage significances. This paper provides an insight into the urgency of initiating proper planning and conservation management to save this valuable heritage element from extinction. By identifying and analyzing 'Cultural Heritage' elements, this study will help generating guidelines for selecting the appropriate methodologies and tools for further assessment of the identified values of this unique heritage form as part of sustainable conservation management and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial provides an introduction to the special issue on "Lessons about intervening in accountability ecosystems: implementation of community scorecards in Bangladesh and Uganda". We start by describing the rationale for this work in the two study countries. While our project, the Future Health Systems (FHS) project, had been working over the course of more than a decade to strengthen health services, particularly for low income households in rural areas, our teams increasingly recognized how difficult it would be to sustain service improvements without fundamental changes to local accountabilities. Accordingly, in the final phase of the project 2016–2018, we designed, implemented and assessed community scorecard initiatives, in both Bangladesh and Uganda, with the aim of informing the design of a scalable social accountability initiative that could fundamentally shift the dynamics of health system accountability in favor of the poor and marginalized. We describe the particular characteristics of our approach to this task. Specifically we (i) conducted a mapping of accountabilities in each of the contexts so as to understand how our actions may interact with existing accountability mechanisms (ii) developed detailed theories of change that unpacked the mechanisms through which we anticipated the community scorecards would have effect, as well as how they would be institutionalized; and (iii) monitored closely the extent of inclusion and the equity effects of the scorecards. In summarizing this approach, we articulate the contributions made by different papers in this volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretically grounded strategy for the financial sustainability of smallto- medium nonprofit organisations (NPOs) engaged in social enterprise (SE) strategies. The theory is based on research conducted in the South Asia region: specifically India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Despite the significant growth in the NPO sector in this region, the literature does not adequately deal with the emergence of SE. Using an adaptation of Strauss and Corbin's (1998) pragmatic approach to grounded theory method (GTM), the aim of this research is to contribute to the formulation of practical solutions to achieving financial sustainability across the spectrum of the target organisations, with due consideration of their region and country specific social, cultural, economic, and institutional contexts and drivers. This is achieved through development of a performance-based management action framework to achieve financial sustainability for small-to-medium NPOs pursuing SE strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community informatics and Information and Communications Technology for Development research projects frequently focus on the appropriation of ICTs and the design of information systems to meet the needs of communities. Such projects typically involve a range of participants reflecting different cultures and depend for their success on the ability of the project to bridge differences. Using PROTIC (Participatory Research and Ownership with Technology, Information and Change), a 5-year collaborative project between Monash University, Oxfam Australia and Oxfam in Bangladesh as a case study, this paper reflects on the use of a "mainstream" form of participatory action research (PAR) as a tool capable of engaging in more sustainable projects by helping to identify and to take into account localised or context-specific social and cultural issues in the design of the information system itself, consequently improving the effectiveness and sustainability of the systems developed. The idea of emic understandings of culture have also been used to interpret the project and PAR as an intercultural exchange around developing a community-focussed sociotechnical project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Bangladesh has developed a power generation expansion plan up to 2041. However, the plan did not fully consider the importance of sustainable development. This paper addresses this limitation and assesses both historical and future sustainability trends of Bangladesh's power generation system, as well as the sustainability of the Power System Master Plan (PSMP-2016) through multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) with respect to social, environmental, and economic dimensions of the sustainability framework. Out of a total of 19 sustainability indicators, there were 10 social, 4 environmental, and 5 economic indicators taken into account. It was found that Bangladesh's future power generation sector's sustainability is going to deteriorate from its present situation. Results of the analysis show that the sustainability index of 0.3769 in 2016 is going to degrade to 0.3249 in 2041. Most importantly, economic indicators dominate the sustainability measures, compared with social and environmental indicators. Thus, improvements in the economic indicators will result in a substantial increase in the sustainability index of the country's power generation sector. This indicates that energy policies need to be designed in such a way that a balance is achieved between all three dimensions to ensure a sustainable future electricity generation system. A similar analysis can also be applied to other countries where future power generation expansion planning is underway. Highlights • Sustainability assessment of power generation sector of Bangladesh. • Demonstrates sustainability indices for different power generation technologies. • Assesses sustainability trends of the future electricity generation system. • Supports sustainable power generation related policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a novel methodological approach for better understanding how different capital assets can be organized, transformed, and used in different combinations to reduce livelihood sensitivity to climatic stresses – an area that requires greater research attention in the context of adaptation policy. Research was conducted in the northeastern floodplain communities of Bangladesh, regarded as one of the most climate sensitive, resource poor, and highly understudied areas of the country. This wetland-dominated ecosystem is home to diverse resources user groups (e.g., farmer and fisher) who are subjected to regular seasonal flooding, excessive rainfall, drought, and flash floods. Working in 12 adjacent villages of two significant wetlands (Hakaluki haor and Tanguar haor ), qualitative and quantitative data were collected through 15 focus groups ( n  = 15), 35 key informant interviews, and 356 household surveys to better understand how community members adapt in response to their livelihood sensitivity to the climatic stresses. Results indicate that community members organize and transform capital assets in diverse ways to escape climate-induced “poverty traps”. Findings also reveal that interventions from external agencies (e.g., government, non-governmental organizations and market institutions) are an important key to livelihood sustainability for many households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse environmental consequences and diminishing trend of fossil fuel reserves indicate a serious need for vibrant and judicious energy policy. Energy policy involves a number of stakeholders, and needs to incorporate the interests and requirements of all the key stakeholder groups. This paper presents a methodological technique to assist with formulating, evaluating, and promoting the energy policy of a country in a transparent and representative way with clear scientific justifications and balanced assessments. The multicriteria decision analysis approach has been a widely used technique for evaluating different alternatives based on the interests of a multitude of stakeholders, and goals. This paper utilizes the SMAA (Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis) tool, which can evaluate different alternatives by incorporating multiple criteria, in order to examine the preferences of different policy elements. We further extend this technique by incorporating the LEAP model (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system) to assess the emission impacts of different policy elements. We demonstrate the application of this evaluation technique by an analysis of four hypothetical policy elements namely Business-as usual (BAU), Renewables (REN), Renewable-biomass only (REN-b), and Energy conservation and efficient technologies (ECET). These are applied to the case of sharing fuel sources for power generation for the Bangladesh power sector. We found that the REN-b and REN policy elements were the best and second best alternatives with 41% and 32% acceptability respectively. This technique gives transparent information for choosing appropriate policy elements that aimed at sustainable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is a small country with its large population struggled with several challenges over the last few decades, including overpopulation, power grid disruptions, floods, and global warming. Sufficient rate of energy production is must for a developing country, but quickly expanding population and overall economic growth interrupt the energy sector. Renewable energy plays a vital role to contribute in this sector. For becoming an agricultural country biomass is an important sustainable energy source for this country. Organic crop residues, animal waste, and municipal solid waste are the most accessible biomass energy sources in this country. On the other hand, by using the membrane gas separation technology the quality biogas can be improved and it helps the environment from the toxic CO 2 which is a major element of biogas. This study represents the extension, potential and innovations identified with the utilization of biomass assets. Besides the improvement of biogas also discussed in this paper. This paper also represents the various initiatives conducted by the government that are all relevant to biomass energy. This work further can be studies to innovate different biomass technology and to improve the quality of biogas. [Display omitted] • Biomass is an alternative and sustainable renewable energy source in Bangladesh. • Thermal and bio-chemical methods are widely used for changing over biomass to energy. • Government plan is to produce electricity by utilizing natural gas, liquid fuel, and peat. • Membrane gas separation technology is used to increase the quality of gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to elaborate and recognize a model in which knowledge management practices affect corporate sustainability via corporate structure, corporate culture, corporate leadership style, and a unique variable social capital, used for the first time. Knowledge management is now used as a mediating variable for corporate sustainability. Creating long-term sustainable strategies emphasizes the need for a distinctive model of knowledge management practices in a rapidly changing business environment. Therefore, this paper delivers insights on how an organization can sustain its performance by addressing new dimensions due to the changing socio-economic environments and the pursuit of incessant improvement of competition. The authors used a quantitative research approach. Data is collected through a well-designed questionnaire from 130 respondents from Dhaka's textile sector, a significant sector of Bangladesh's economy and the world's second-largest ready-made garment (RMG) manufacturer and exporter. The result revealed that corporate sustainability is significantly related to corporate structure, culture, social capital, and corporate leadership styles. The mediated role of knowledge management in the link between organizational culture and sustainable performance is also crucial, and the relationship between leadership style and sustainable performance is also vital. A new variable known as social capital is also identified. Giving value and novelty to the academic literature also confirmed knowledge management and corporate sustainability theories that governments and regulators should follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews experience in advancing Human Development (HD) since 1970 by investigating behaviour among countries that made the largest improvement in HD and those that made the least improvement. The paper provides evidence on a range of indicators for the three best (and worst) performers among high, medium and low HD countries. It identifies alternative combinations of variables associated with success and failure. It then reviews performance on a range of other dimensions of Human Development, including political rights, gender empowerment, societal stability and environmental sustainability and shows these are only weakly associated with performance on the Human Development Index (HDI). To illuminate historical, political and institutional factors associated with success and failure, the performance of six countries (four successful and two weak performers) are briefly reviewed—Bangladesh, Chile, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and Zambia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market-based reforms implemented in the agricultural input management system are often claimed to be one of the success stories in Bangladesh. Based on the findings of 154 surveys and 16 in-depth interviews with the stakeholders during 2003-2004, the paper found that although there have been some notable achievements, the reforms have not achieved their expected outcomes and more importantly, in cases where they have been achieved, their sustainability is in question. The paper discusses the underlying reasons for the success and the problems of the reforms and also offers some policy recommendations to resolve the gap between the expected and the achieved outcomes. In the context of increasing donor pressure for adopting market-based reforms, the findings are likely to have important implications for both the donors and other countries in South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The readymade garment (RMG) sector is one of the main drivers of the Bangladesh economy with over 4 million employed. In the 2013 Rana Plaza accident aftermath, the implementation of workplace safety compliance (WSC) became imperative. The paper investigated the WSC initiatives implemented by the RMG sector to overcome safety challenges and their effectiveness for a safe and healthy workplace. We employed a multi-case study research strategy over three Bangladeshi garment manufacturers to resolve these queries. The result revealed that the manufacturers joined in the safety governance programs to protect workers' health safety rights immediately after the accidents. They participated in inspections and remediations programs over structural, electrical, and fire protection as a priority. Moreover, several other human rights conventions, national labor laws and, buyer code of conduct were also adopted as regulatory and voluntary initiatives to settle workers' health rights and social needs. The WSC enforcement empowered workers to bargain their rights toward a safe workplace and made them responsible for responding during an emergency. Finally, the paper argues that the WSC in the RMG sector nowadays covers a wide range of initiatives in three broad areas: physical environment safety, workers' health issues, and workers' rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among nations with populations above 100 million, Bangladesh is the most densely populated country. It is located on the most active delta in the world and quite vulnerable to natural calamities. Despite tremendous growth over the last three decades in the service, industrial and remittance sector, agriculture remains the largest single source of the GDP and employment. It also provides the nation with food security, a crucial component of sustainability. Over the past three decades unplanned urbanization and industrialization has adversely affected increased extraction of groundwater and surface water for irrigation, coupled with flood control measures in the upper riparian and lower riparian regions. In this context, spatial planning could be considered as a useful tool to foster sustainable development of the country. Therefore, this paper recommends spatial planning as a tool for the sustainable development of Bangladesh considering the demographic trends, economy, geographic context and existing policy of land use and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since micro-level understanding of the non-farm sector (NFS) seems to be insufficient for promoting sustainable livelihoods in rural Bangladesh, this paper examines the significance and growth linkages of Household Non-Farm Enterprises (HNFEs) in four villages at a typically advanced rural location: Comilla Sadar Upazila. The findings show that in relation to the limited scope of earning income from farming and in-country remittance employment, the households' higher dependency on out-country remittance employment and local low-return NFE could be a threat for sustainability of local livelihoods. Thus, the increasing contribution of non-farm self-employment and non-farm wage employment by promoting HNFEs is critically important. The HNFEs were also found to be locally linked. The HNFEs that purchased inputs locally and sold outputs in distant markets might have higher profit potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess the sustainability of the current account of Bangladesh over the period of 1982-2012 using the intertemporal solvency model of Hakkio and Rush (1991) and Husted (1992). This approach examines the relationship between exports and imports plus unilateral transfer payments. We apply Johansen cointegration test and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) to evaluate the sustainability. Cointegration between inflows and outflows of current account implies that the intertemporal budget constraint is satisfied. Results of the Johansen cointegration test imply that there is a cointegrating relationship between exports and imports plus unilateral transfer payments. This indicates that Bangladesh's current account is sustainable but result of DOLS estimation reveals that it is weakly sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A developing country such as Bangladesh, where economic development without compromising the eco-friendly environment is a burning issue, needs huge supply of power. Having very limited fossil fuels, sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass and limited hydro power are the probable alternatives to offset energy crisis in Bangladesh and similar other countries. Over three-quarters (76 percent) of Bangladeshi people are out of on-grid connected electrical power supply. Undeniably, it has limited natural gas being used for a large variety of purposes. Energy demand is estimated to increase exponentially, implying alarming supply and demand gap. Despite prospects of huge renewable energy sources, presently, this country has only 0.3 percent of renewable energy share to the total energy supply. This paper reviews the renewable energy status and its prospective use in Bangladesh as well as renewable energy technologies obtainable in Bangladesh. It also attempts to provide future research directions and show ways to harness renewable energies to meet the future demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deltas, the low-lying land at river mouths, are sensitive to the delicate balance between sea level rise, land subsidence and sedimentation. Bangladesh and the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD) have been highlighted as a region at risk from sea-level rise, but reliable estimates of land subsidence have been limited. While early studies suggested high rates of relative sea-level rise, recent papers estimate more modest rates. Our objective is to better quantify the magnitude, spatial variability, and depth variation of sediment compaction and land subsidence in the lower GBD to better evaluate the processes controlling them and the pattern of relative sea level rise in this vulnerable region. We combine subsidence and compaction estimates from hand-drilled tube wells and historic sites (1–5 mm/y), GNSS and river gauges (4–8 mm/y) and RSET-MH and borehole vertical strainmeters (9–10 mm/y) in SW Bangladesh. The differences between the different types of measurements reflect the different timescales, spatial distribution and depth sensitivity of the different observations. Rates are lower for times >300y providing data on the timescale of compaction. We also observe differences related to the degree to which different devices measure shallow and deep subsidence. Higher values reflect a greater component of subsidence from young shallow deposits from soil compaction and organic matter degradation. Thus, we observe different rates for different environments and physical settings. These differences indicate that in planning adaptation for rising sea level, hard construction with a solid foundation may experience different subsidence rates than open fields or reclaimed land with recent natural or anthropogenic sedimentation. Land subsidence increases the impact of sea level rise. We combine six different types of measurements that examine land subsidence in coastal Bangladesh. The results show that causes of subsidence, including compaction of the sediments varies both spatially and with depth, and that compaction and organic matter degradation from young shallow deposits is a significant contribution to subsidence. This suggests that hard construction with a solid foundation, such as buildings and embankments, may experience a lower subsidence rates than open fields or reclaimed land with recent natural or anthropogenic sedimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: ‘Gher’ farming is a unique system that incorporates the joint operation of three enterprises: freshwater prawn, fish and HYV rice, and is expanding rapidly in the coastal regions of Bangladesh because of its proven high income earning potential. In this paper, the sustainability of this system is evaluated by analysing its performance in terms of energy use by applying a stochastic distance function approach which revealed interesting and unexpected results. The prawn enterprise which is the key income earning component is found to be technically inefficient while the rice enterprise is found to be efficient. The net energy balance and the energy use efficiency of the ‘gher’ farming system is estimated at 18,510 MJ ha−1 and 1.72 respectively. The ‘gher’ farmers are operating at a very high level of technical (energy) efficiency (92%). Diversification amongst enterprises is associated with technical (energy) inefficiency. However, larger operation size enhances efficiency. The key policy implication is that the ‘gher’ farming system can be sustained in the long run provided that productivity from the rice enterprise remains high. Also, policies to support the expansion of ‘gher’ farm sizes will improve efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Certification is an increasingly pervasive form of market governance through which retailers and NGOs are able to exert control over producers of primary products in order to secure their commercial and institutional interests. This paper assesses the likely outcomes of emerging certification standards intended to govern production of a new global commodity, Pangasius catfish. This evaluation focuses on Pangasius producers in Vietnam and Bangladesh, and one of the key areas which standards seek to regulate; the environment. We conclude that certification is likely to result in greater differentiation and polarisation between larger and smaller farm operators and will increasingly act to exclude of the latter from access to Western European and North American markets, and that any local environmental gains produced may be of relatively minor significance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Renewable energy encompasses a broad range of energy resources. Bangladesh is known to have a good potential for renewable energy, but so far no systematic study has been done to quantify this potential for power generation. This paper estimates the potential of renewable energy resources for power generation in Bangladesh from the viewpoint of different promising available technologies. Estimation of the potential of solar energy in Bangladesh is done using a GIS-based GeoSpatial Toolkit (GsT), Hybrid System Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) model and NASA Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE) solar radiation data. The potential of wind energy is estimated by developing a Bangladesh wind map using NASA SSE wind data and HOMER model. A review of country''s biomass and hydro potential for electricity generation is presented. The technical potential of gird-connected solar PV is estimated at 50,174MW. Assuming that 1000h per year of full power is the feasible threshold for the exploitation of wind energy, the areas that satisfy this condition in the country would be sufficient for the installation of 4614MW of wind power. The potential of biomass-based and small hydro power plants is estimated at 566 and 125MW, respectively. The renewable energy resources cannot serve as alternative to conventional energy resources, yet they may serve to supplement the long-term energy needs of Bangladesh to a significant level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Farming of the freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in rice fields is widespread in southwest Bangladesh. It plays an important role in the economy of the country, earning foreign exchange, increasing food production and providing opportunities for employment. This paper provides an overview of the sustainability of prawn farming in rice fields in southwest Bangladesh. It concludes that integrated prawn-fish-rice farming can help Bangladesh keep pace with current demand for fish and rice, and enhance economic development through exports of prawns. However, while prawn farming in rice fields has huge potential, there are environmental consequences. Some of these may eventually reduce productivity of the prawn-fish-rice farming system itself; others are the inevitable consequence of an expanding human population sequestering all available resources to itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over one billion people are without access to safe water, while twice as many lack access to improved sanitation services, making these two of the world’s most pressing issues. The sustainability of critical infrastructure systems, such as water and sanitation, is a necessary (though not sufficient) criterion for achieving sustainable human settlements since the lack of adequate services affects literally all aspects of a community’s daily existence including health, education, family, surroundings, and employment. Despite several decades of development aid, infrastructure solutions have not significantly improved these water and sanitation problems (with few exceptions). In this paper, we consider the holistic nature of water infrastructure development in terms of rural areas in developing countries. We propose an outcome-based evaluation method using Life-Cycle Analysis to examine three categories of infrastructure sustainability metrics: technical, environmental, and economic; both froma community perspective, and a social-equity perspective. We demonstrate the method with a simple, generic example of arsenic treatment approaches in Bangladesh. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper used ordinary kriging to spatially map arsenic contamination in shallow aquifers of Northwestern Bangladesh (total area∼35,000km2). The Northwestern region was selected because it represents a relatively safer source of large-scale and affordable water supply for the rest of Bangladesh currently faced with extensive arsenic contamination in drinking water (such as the Southern regions). Hence, the work appropriately explored sustainability issues by building upon a previously published study (; Water Resources Management, vol. 21: 1245–1261) where a more general nation-wide assessment afforded by kriging was identified. The arsenic database for reference comprised the nation-wide survey (of 3534 drinking wells) completed in 1999 by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in collaboration with the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) of Bangladesh. Randomly sampled networks of zones from this reference database were used to develop an empirical variogram and develop maps of zonal arsenic concentration for the Northwestern region. The remaining non-sampled zones from the reference database were used to assess the accuracy of the kriged maps. Two additional criteria were explored: (1) the ability of geostatistical interpolators such as kriging to extrapolate information on spatial structure of arsenic contamination beyond small-scale exploratory domains; (2) the impact of a priori knowledge of anisotropic variability on the effectiveness of geostatistically based management. On the average, the kriging method was found to have a 90% probability of successful prediction of safe zones according to the WHO safe limit of 10ppb while for the Bangladesh safe limit of 50ppb, the safe zone prediction probability was 97%. Compared to the previous study by Hossain et al. (2007) over the rest of the contaminated country side, the probability of successful detection of safe zones in the Northwest is observed to be about 25% higher. An a priori knowledge of anisotropy was found to have inconclusive impact on the effectiveness of kriging. It was, however, hypothesized that a preferential sampling strategy that honored anisotropy could be necessary to reach a more definitive conclusion in regards to this issue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article provides a critical analysis to the Grameen Bank (GB) experience in Bangladesh, in order to understand its operation essential elements. GB is a unique financial institution which has successfully developed an effective method to reach the poorest of the poor. The bank financial model has replaced loan collateral physical requirements by group responsibility. By organizing poor individuals into groups, the social and financial conditions are created, enabling them to receive loans. Its financial intermediation model also promotes the poor's productivity and income. In the same way, the implementation of the model contributes to raise their loan repayment rate, and hence, increases GB's financial viability. Likewise, this paper presents a business plan and discusses an action design to implement a GB prototype in Miguel Alemán, a small town in the municipality of Hermosillo, Sonora, México. Duplicating the GB's model in rural México constitutes a challenge that demands important adaptations on the original model, as well as in management's procedures, according to the social religious and cultural differences between México and Bangladesh. However, based on a business plan, we consider that a credit program for poor women in Miguel Alemán, offers lasting and economical viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastal areas of Bangladesh are vulnerable to natural disasters, especially from cyclones and tidal surges. Since 1958 most of the coast has been protected by the construction of embankments and sluice gates. No impact study was conducted before doing this construction. Today, however, ecological, social, economic, and cultural impacts can be observed. This paper examines the prospects of introducing tidal energy projects into an already damaged environment. It assesses the potential to help improve the sustainability of the coastal areas through integration of resources into environmental rehabilitation, economic improvement, electricity generation, diversification of production, and other social gains to communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the profit efficiency and through that the sustainability potential of pangas pond fish farming in Bangladesh, focusing on the relationship between farm size and profitability. To investigate this, a stochastic frontier profit function on cross-sectional data collected from Bangladesh is utilized. Findings reveals that the mean level of profit efficiency is 74%, which implies that 26% of the profit is lost due to the combination of technical and allocative efficiency. Our findings show that profit per hectare increases with an increase in farm size but less quickly than proportional to farm size. Further, fish productivity (quantity output per hectare) is found to increase with increasing farm size, a finding contradicting the inverse farm size – productivity relationship widely found in the crop production literature. After controlling for imperfections in input markets and pond characteristics, our finding is robust. The results also indicate that increased profit efficiency is associated with better access to credit, training and extension services, suggesting that policies to improve access to these services are essential to sustain long-term fish farming in Bangladesh. • We estimate the profit efficiency and sustainability of pangas fish farming. • Fish productivity and profitability increases with farm size, contradicting the inverse productivity–farm size in literature. • About 26% of the profit is lost due to the combination of technical and allocative efficiency in pangas farming. • Better access to credit, training and extension services are essential for sustainability of fish farming among smallholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the environmental impact of effluents released by denim garment washing factories in Bangladesh. Both untreated and treated effluent samples were collected from five denim washing factories identified as representative cases and were subjected to chemical testing as a part of the case study. The results were compared against the acceptable limits of parameters-chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), the potential of hydrogen (pH) and color. Findings show that COD and BOD values are well within the acceptable limit in all of the factories studied but only 20% of the factories could achieve acceptable DO levels. Around 40–60% of the studied washing factories showed evidence of improved filtration systems for TDS and TSS values, but only 40% of factories produced clear wastewater. 60% of the factories met an acceptable pH level of 6–8 before releasing their effluent to the environment. The study reveals the technical limitations of effluent treatment practices of the denim garment washing factories in Bangladesh. The findings will appeal to all stakeholders, including academics and researchers, to give serious attention to reducing environmental impact of industrial garment washing process. They will help industry practitioners with more comprehensive information to take strategic action in making denim garment washing factories in Bangladesh more sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant literature on sustainability in procurement and supplier selection suffers from a number of deficiencies. First, studies pertaining to the dynamic nature of stakeholders' expectations of sustainability and its impact on determining a supply portfolio have not been studied before. Second, there is a genuine lack of study linking the stakeholders' sustainability requirements, firm procurement strategies, and eventual supplier selection. Third, most of the existing studies address sustainability issues in procurement and supplier selection but fall short of determining an optimal portfolio of suppliers and corresponding optimal order quantities. This study addresses the above research gaps by developing a sustainability-focused multi-criteria decision model for supplier evaluation and determining optimal order allocation among the suppliers linking the stakeholders' sustainability requirements and firm procurement strategies. Based on dynamic capability theory, we develop a decision support framework integrating multi-phased quality function deployment and dynamic optimization. We apply the decision support framework to a European apparel company which sources apparel from Bangladesh: a country that is a low cost sourcing destination. First, this study identifies the stakeholders' sustainability requirements. It then explicates the company's procurement strategies in terms of stakeholders' requirements followed by translating the procurement strategies to relevant supplier assessment criteria. Finally, a linear optimization model is developed to maximize the suppliers' sustainability performance in order to determine the optimal supply portfolio. The results identify two distinct groups of suppliers satisfying the overall sustainability performance. However the optimal order quantities among the suppliers vary randomly depending on the variations in demand and priority weights of the suppliers. The paper concludes with a detailed discussion of the results and implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]