The livestock and dairy sector is one of the most important catalysts for improving livelihoods among the general population in Bangladesh. Despite rapid growth in dairy production, little is known about how dairy consumption patterns differ across regions, and between urban and rural households, or how these patterns evolve with rising household expenditure. This study addresses how Bangladeshi households consume dairy products and how these patterns differ across eight divisions, and their corresponding rural urban counterpart using district–residence pseudo-panel. This research used three rounds of Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data from 2005, 2016, and 2022 for investigate the factors shaping food and dairy expenditure share along with drivers of milk, powdered milk and curd consumption over a consecutive 14 days period in a year. Our results are consistent with Engel’s law, showing that higher household expenditure is associated with a lower proportion of total spending allocated to food, indicating a gradual shift of household budgets toward non-food items. Random effect model shows that household expenditure has no significant impact on milk, powdered milk or curd consumption quantities. Since curd is often consumed on special occasions, people are more likely to buy it when their income is higher. In case of regional (divisional) comparison, milk consumption remains lower in Khulna and Mymensingh across both rural and urban settings, whereas powdered milk intake is relatively higher in Dhaka, Sylhet, and Mymensingh. Urban households consume higher absolute quantities of dairy products, while rural households allocate a higher share of total expenditure to dairy. Using these findings, the government and policymakers may formulate regional sensitive dairy development strategies.
Yasmin et al. (Mon,) studied this question.