ABSTRACT
Local-level government in rural Bangladesh administers a number of agricultural subsidy and safety-net programs established by the national government on the basis of guidelines provided by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Millennium Development Goals. This chapter describes the performance of these programs in the context of local power structures. Local governments' water, seed and fertilizer management failures inevitably result in major food insecurity for the marginalized people. The district agriculture rehabilitation committee finalizes a priority list of the marginalized farmers submitted by the upazila committees. Local governments fail to perform proper roles in protecting the marginalized communities at Chapra due to top-down domination over the social protection programs. However, local community voices are excluded from the government programs due to top-down system that causes major concerns over basic rights: food, employment, education, health care and housing. The development programs benefit wealthy and intermediate farmers but reduce employment opportunities for the majority of households.
