| Sumario: | Despite recent economic growth, pervasive poverty and undemutrition persist in Bangladesh. According to the latest estimates, about half the population cannot afford an adequate diet (WGTFI 1994; Sen 1992; Ravallion and Sen 1996). Although long-term trends in the overall incidence of poverty show modest signs of improvement, the standard of living for those in extreme poverty has stagnated (Rahman 1994; Sen 1992). One-quarter of the population maintains a precarious existence. Chronically underfed and highly vulnerable, these people remain largely without assets (other than their own labor power) to cushion lean-season hunger or the crushing blows of illness, flooding, and other calamities. As a result, two-thirds of deaths among children under five years old are related to malnutrition (Hassan and Ahmed 1990).
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