Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh

Female ready-made garment (RMG) workers are major contributors to Bangladesh’s economy, yet they struggle to afford basic nutritious food owing to their minimal earnings as urban migrants. Their situation toward food is aggravated by their limited agency and lower social status as women and RMG work...

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Autores principales: Haque, Sadika, Khan, Md Sahed, Mawa, Bentul, Sarkar, Md Abdur Rouf, Misu, Nushrat Jahan, Farquhar, Samantha, Salman, Md, Akter, Mohima, Afrin, Khandaker Sadia, Sarowar, Samiha, Sarker, Mou Rani, Hoque, Md Nazmul, Wahid, Tabassum, Hasan, Md Mehedi
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer Nature 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178645
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author Haque, Sadika
Khan, Md Sahed
Mawa, Bentul
Sarkar, Md Abdur Rouf
Misu, Nushrat Jahan
Farquhar, Samantha
Salman, Md
Akter, Mohima
Afrin, Khandaker Sadia
Sarowar, Samiha
Sarker, Mou Rani
Hoque, Md Nazmul
Wahid, Tabassum
Hasan, Md Mehedi
author_browse Afrin, Khandaker Sadia
Akter, Mohima
Farquhar, Samantha
Haque, Sadika
Hasan, Md Mehedi
Hoque, Md Nazmul
Khan, Md Sahed
Mawa, Bentul
Misu, Nushrat Jahan
Salman, Md
Sarkar, Md Abdur Rouf
Sarker, Mou Rani
Sarowar, Samiha
Wahid, Tabassum
author_facet Haque, Sadika
Khan, Md Sahed
Mawa, Bentul
Sarkar, Md Abdur Rouf
Misu, Nushrat Jahan
Farquhar, Samantha
Salman, Md
Akter, Mohima
Afrin, Khandaker Sadia
Sarowar, Samiha
Sarker, Mou Rani
Hoque, Md Nazmul
Wahid, Tabassum
Hasan, Md Mehedi
author_sort Haque, Sadika
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Female ready-made garment (RMG) workers are major contributors to Bangladesh’s economy, yet they struggle to afford basic nutritious food owing to their minimal earnings as urban migrants. Their situation toward food is aggravated by their limited agency and lower social status as women and RMG workers, along with highly gendered food accessibility and utilization within the households. This article examines how the limited agency and social status of these RMG workers impact their food security outcomes through an ethnographic lens. Individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with female RMG workers, their husbands, community members, and other relevant stakeholders to gather evidence. Our findings show that most women RMG workers struggle to achieve food security, especially in terms of affordability and utilization. Many of these workers are constantly facing psychological deprivation toward food items that they would prefer, generating mental insecurity for food. The novel of ‘Food Desire’ dimension is integrated in this work. The situation of these RMG workers is worsened by socio-cultural norms that restrict their social food access. To address these compounded problems, this study recommends stabilizing food prices, implementing holistic salary revisions considering inflation rates, and introducing gender-responsive social safety net programmes for RMG worker households.
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publishDate 2025
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spelling CGSpace1786452025-12-09T08:47:48Z Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh Haque, Sadika Khan, Md Sahed Mawa, Bentul Sarkar, Md Abdur Rouf Misu, Nushrat Jahan Farquhar, Samantha Salman, Md Akter, Mohima Afrin, Khandaker Sadia Sarowar, Samiha Sarker, Mou Rani Hoque, Md Nazmul Wahid, Tabassum Hasan, Md Mehedi food security gender gap gender-responsive approaches women empowerment stakeholders urban farmers dietary diversity women's participation Female ready-made garment (RMG) workers are major contributors to Bangladesh’s economy, yet they struggle to afford basic nutritious food owing to their minimal earnings as urban migrants. Their situation toward food is aggravated by their limited agency and lower social status as women and RMG workers, along with highly gendered food accessibility and utilization within the households. This article examines how the limited agency and social status of these RMG workers impact their food security outcomes through an ethnographic lens. Individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with female RMG workers, their husbands, community members, and other relevant stakeholders to gather evidence. Our findings show that most women RMG workers struggle to achieve food security, especially in terms of affordability and utilization. Many of these workers are constantly facing psychological deprivation toward food items that they would prefer, generating mental insecurity for food. The novel of ‘Food Desire’ dimension is integrated in this work. The situation of these RMG workers is worsened by socio-cultural norms that restrict their social food access. To address these compounded problems, this study recommends stabilizing food prices, implementing holistic salary revisions considering inflation rates, and introducing gender-responsive social safety net programmes for RMG worker households. 2025-10-11 2025-12-09T08:47:47Z 2025-12-09T08:47:47Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178645 en Limited Access Springer Nature Haque, Sadika, Md SahedKhan, Bentul Mawa, Md Abdur Rouf Sarkar, Nushrat Jahan Misu, Samantha Farquhar, Md Salman et al. "Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers’ food security in urban Bangladesh." Food Security (2025): 1-15.
spellingShingle food security
gender gap
gender-responsive approaches
women empowerment
stakeholders
urban farmers
dietary diversity
women's participation
Haque, Sadika
Khan, Md Sahed
Mawa, Bentul
Sarkar, Md Abdur Rouf
Misu, Nushrat Jahan
Farquhar, Samantha
Salman, Md
Akter, Mohima
Afrin, Khandaker Sadia
Sarowar, Samiha
Sarker, Mou Rani
Hoque, Md Nazmul
Wahid, Tabassum
Hasan, Md Mehedi
Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh
title Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh
title_full Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh
title_fullStr Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh
title_short Impact of social position and agency on ready-made garment workers' food security in urban Bangladesh
title_sort impact of social position and agency on ready made garment workers food security in urban bangladesh
topic food security
gender gap
gender-responsive approaches
women empowerment
stakeholders
urban farmers
dietary diversity
women's participation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178645
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