International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and

Management
Opinion of the zakat recipients on their food security: a case study on Bangladesh
Kazi Tanvir Mahmud M. Kabir Hassan Md. Ferdous Alam Kazi Sohag Farhana Rafiq

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Kazi Tanvir Mahmud M. Kabir Hassan Md. Ferdous Alam Kazi Sohag Farhana Rafiq , (2014),"Opinion of
the zakat recipients on their food security: a case study on Bangladesh", International Journal of Islamic and
Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Vol. 7 Iss 3 pp. 333 - 345
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Opinion of the zakat recipients

on their food security: a case
study on Bangladesh
Kazi Tanvir Mahmud

Opinion of zakat
recipients on
food security
333

Research and Evaluation Division (RED), BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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M. Kabir Hassan
Department of Economics and Finance, University of New Orleans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Received 9 August 2012

Revised 30 October 2013
Accepted 30 October 2013

Md. Ferdous Alam

Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, American
International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Kazi Sohag
Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan, Selangor,
Malaysia, and

Farhana Rafiq
Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, American
International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of zakat fund on the food expenditure of
the households to assess the impact of zakat fund on the agricultural production of the households and
to assess the opinion of the zakat recipients on food security status under zakat program.
Design/methodology/approach Samples were selected for this study using the simple random
sampling (SRS) technique. A total of 149 households were selected from 196 households. A survey was
conducted during January to March 2011 among the project beneficiaries using questionnaire. The
ordinary least squares technique was used to assess the impact of zakat on food security status of the
zakat recipients. Heteroscedasticity problem was detected in this study which was corrected using
Whites method. Logit model was used to assess the opinions of the zakat recipients on their food
security status under the Hasana project.
Findings This study shows that amount of zakat provided to the poor recipients failed to create any
significant influence on their agricultural production, food expenditure and food security status. The
study also shows that household income, family members involvement in agricultural activities and
numbers of income-generating activities pursued by the households were the key determinants of
households food consumption.
Originality/value This study helps in assessing the opinion of the zakat recipients about the
effectiveness of the zakat program on their living standard in terms of household agricultural

The present paper was presented in its previous version at the 8th International Conference of Islamic
Economics and Finance in Doha, Qatar, December 16-18, 2011. (http://conference.qfis.edu.qa/
app/media/236).

International Journal of Islamic and

Middle Eastern Finance and
Management
Vol. 7 No. 3, 2014
pp. 333-345
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1753-8394
DOI 10.1108/IMEFM-08-2012-0079

IMEFM
7,3

production and food security and also assisting in policy planning for alleviating rural poverty in
Bangladesh through the zakat system.
Keywords Agriculture, Bangladesh, Food, zakat
Paper type Research paper

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334

1. Background of the study

Bangladesh is a devolving country with low level of income and widespread poverty.
Per capita GDP was estimated at about 772 USD in 2012 (Bangladesh Economic Review,
2012). About 31 per cent of the population is under poverty (Bangladesh Economic
Review, 2012). Due to poverty, poor people cannot meet their basic needs like food. Low
agricultural production is one of the obstacles for creating food insecurity in
Bangladesh. Per capita food consumption is low for Bangladeshi citizens. Per capita per
day intake of major food items, such as rice, wheat, beef, mutton, chicken/duck and fish,
were estimated at about 416, 26, 7, 0.6, 11, and 49 grams, respectively, in 2010
(Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Being consistent with the millennium
development goal (MDG) objective of eradicating extreme poverty, Government of
Bangladesh (GoB) had set few major strategies to fight against poverty which were:
to enhance pro-poor growth;
to encourage women empowerment;
to invest on human development; and
to ensure social security.
It is expected that due to government policies, food security of the people should be
ensured which is the main focus of this study. In line with the government development
policies, Masjid Council for Community Advancement (MACCA), a faith-based NGO,
has been working in Bangladesh to alleviate poverty through its Hasana program
through which the poor are provided with zakat fund to enable them to improve their
living standard in terms of food security, productivity, income, consumption and
employment generation.
1.1 Concept of zakat system in Islam
In the Islamic philosophy, the term zakat is defined as A pre-determined portion of
the wealth taken from the wealthy persons of the Muslim society to allocate it to the poor
according to the Islamic law. Zakat is considered as one of the fundamental principles
of Islam which every eligible Muslim is bound to obey. Zakat is due for the eligible
Muslim once a year. Zakat becomes due on a person only if he or she possesses one of the
following amounts of wealth:
gold: the nisab for gold is 3 ounce or 100 grams;
silver: the nisab for silver is 21 ounce or 700 grams; or
cash: the nisab for cash is an equivalent to the value of the nisab of silver or gold.
1.2 Problem statement
The GoB is committed to alleviate poverty. Thus, government took attempts to provide
financial support to the rural poor through commercial banks. Unfortunately, desired
outcomes could not be achieved due to poor cliental service and collateral requirement.

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Commercial banks in the developing countries fail to cater to the credit needs of the poor
(Mahmud, 2010). As a tool of poverty alleviation, microcredit system was evolved in
Bangladesh, which requires no collateral. One of the primary objectives of the
microcredit provision is to uplift the overall living standard of the poor. Evidence
showed that the impact of microcredit on borrowers livelihood was little, and it also
failed to stop inequality (Hassan and Khan, 2007; Mahmud, 2010). The Zakat system can
be considered as an alternative and effective tool for poverty reduction, provided zakat
fund is utilized on income-generating activities (IGAs). Nevertheless, the potentials of
utilizing zakat fund were ignored by the Muslim and Western thinkers in their
poverty-reduction strategies. Poverty-reduction strategies which are adopted in the
poverty-reduction strategy paper (PRSP) increased the external debt burdens and
dependency on the donor countries (Hassan and Khan, 2007). The authors also
mentioned that zakat fund can increase the potential of taxation of the government
through improvement of productivity, employment and output. As per Islamic
philosophy, to obtain zakat is a right of the poor on the rich people of the society. Every
year, a huge amount of money is collected as zakat that can be used for productive
purposes to cater to the needs of the society. The poor people have limited capital and
low level of education and skill to pursue IGAs. MACCA provides zakat fund and
training facilities to the poor to improve their overall living standard. Through the
Hasana program, MACCA provided huge amount of zakat money to the poor without
collateral and at zero interest rate. It can be hypothesized that the poor household would
be capable to graduate from the vicious circle of poverty by utilizing this zakat fund.
Therefore, it is important to examine the effectiveness of the zakat program in reducing
poverty. This study aims at assessing the opinion of the zakat recipients about the
effectiveness of zakat program on their living standard in terms of household
agricultural production, food expenditure and food security. Therefore, the following
research questions are raised:
How does the zakat system change living standard of the poor?
What factors influence their agricultural production and food expenditure?
1.3 Objectives of the study
Consistent with the research questions, the following specific objectives were set:
to assess the effectiveness of zakat fund on the agricultural production of the
households;
to assess the effectiveness of zakat fund on the food expenditure of the households;
and
to assess the opinion of the zakat recipients on their food security status.
2. Literature review
Mesbahuddin (2010) states that NGOs microcredit system has failed to reach the
extreme poor people due to charging of high interest rate, while zakat-based Islamic
financing system has provided instant capital to the poor at zero interest rate, and it also
focuses on social justice and equity. Hassan and Ahmed (2003) state that the social
security program provides income to the elderly people of the society by taking
contribution from working and young people, disregarding their possession of wealth.
The authors indicate that the benefit of zakat is need-based and it does not depend on

Opinion of zakat
recipients on
food security
335

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336

contribution; this system is based on the philosophy of solidarity of all the members of
the society implying that rich people of the society are morally obligated to support the
poor. The authors also add that the zakat system can create a positive impact on the
savings, expenditure and employment of the poor.
Shirazi (1996) identifies several problems in zakat collection and the disbursement
process in Pakistan, such as:
lack of information about the zakat organization;
corruption of the official staff;
use of zakat fund for political purposes; and
inefficiency of the zakat institution to collect zakat fund.
Raquib (2011) observes in Bangladesh that zakat-based financing system plays a
superior performance than the interest-based conventional financing system. The
author suggests focusing on the potentials of zakat in the PRSP along with microcredit
system in reducing poverty.
Wahab and Rahman (2012) describe that the zakat institutions in Malaysia are not
technically efficient enough. In their study, they have showed that most of the zakat
institutions are operating at scale of the inefficiency level. The study suggests that more
efficient use of inputs should be made to improve the efficiency level. Mohit and
Nazyddah (2011) assess the performance of Selangor Zakat Board (SZB) in Malaysia and
find that the social housing program operated by SZB became successful in bringing
benefit to the people. The previous studies show that zakat can play a significant role in
improving household income, savings, employment, social security and housing
condition and has served as an effective tool in alleviating poverty. To the best of our
knowledge, there has not been any study conducted in Bangladesh to assess the impact
of zakat fund on the food security status of the poor. Thus, this study focuses to assess
the effectiveness of zakat program on their food security status.
3. Linkage between zakat system and food security
Due to poverty, most of the households under this study had lack of income, lack of
investment ability which forced them to live a low quality of living. Because of their
inadequate income, they could not invest properly on IGAs, which in turn brings low
level of production, income and total expenditure. Zakat support would improve their
investment ability on IGAs and also enable them to diversify IGAs and at the same time
assist them to obtain higher level production and consume more food and non-food
items. However, ensuring food security is a complex process which depends on
multifaceted factors, not just on a single factor like amount of zakat money. Mahmud
et al. (2012) mentioned that educational background of a person is an important indicator
to assess living standard, as an educated person is in advantageous position to pursue
IGAs. The authors also indicated that an effective training enables a person to be
technically sound in pursuing IGAs, increasing socio-political awareness and thus
leading to have a higher return. They further added that family is an important source
of labor supply and poor households in rural Bangladesh, to a greater extent, depend on
family labor. Lack of rural infrastructural facility is one of the major obstacles for rural
development. Poor households very often fail to obtain desired price of their products
due to lack of rural markets. On the other hand, rural consumers also face difficulties to

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purchase the products because of unavailability or untimely supply occurring due to

inadequate infrastructural facilities. Mahmud (2010) observed that increase in the
distance of rural infrastructure (such as rural market) from the dwelling of the poor
household would increase the likelihood of being economic worse-off for them. Frequent
natural calamity (such as flood, drought, hail storm, pest attacks, etc.) is a very common
phenomenon in Bangladesh which causes huge damage to the agricultural production.
It is thus important to consider the role of zakat as well as the other socioeconomic
factors (such as assets, educational background, credit facility, family size, labor
availability, use of technology, rural infrastructural facility and frequency of natural
hazards), which should be critically analyzed for ensuring the food security of the poor
households in Bangladesh.

Opinion of zakat
recipients on
food security
337

4. Theoretical framework
According to the utility theory, as income increases, budget of the consumer increases,
which in turn leads them to purchase higher amount to maximize their utility (Figure 1).
It is stated that sampled households were having low level of income which was one
of the major obstacles for them to pursue IGAs, resulting in low production and
consumption. Providing zakat money would assist them to have higher income and lead
them to have higher level of agricultural production and help them spend more on food.
This economic behaviour is consistent with the theory of utility maximization which is
graphically presented in Figure 1. This study tried to examine whether program
participants were able to move from point E to point F after receiving zakat support
(Figure 1).
5. Conceptual framework
Assuming that household utility function is:
U f ( Fh, Fm, Dh, Wh )

(1)

Figure 1.
Graphical representation
of the utility theory

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338

where,
U utility gained from food consumption;
Fh food items produced;
Fm food items purchased;
Dh demographic characteristics; and
Wh total time spent on IGA by hired and family labor.
The farm household acts as both producer and consumer (Fardi and Wadood, 2010). The
household, as both producer and consumer, is assumed to maximize its utility from the
consumption of the goods subject to farm production (Q), income (Y) and number of
rural infrastructural facilities (R), such as:
C ( Qi , Y, Ri ) 0

(2)

It is also assumed that household produces and consumes a portion of the production.
Thus the household surplus is (Qi Fi) Si, where Q is total household farm production
of the household and F is the portion of farm production consumed by household.
Household needs to purchase market goods for consumption at market price. Household
uses its family members and also hires labor for farm activities. It is also assumed that
household receives revenue from non-farm activities denoted by N. Therefore,
household total revenue function is:
TR Pi ( Qi Fi ) wLf N ( where, unpaid labor cost wLf )

(3)

Assuming that, household has cost function:

TC wLh Bc FcPm Lc

(4)

Pi ( Qi Fi ) wLf N ( wLh Bc Fm Pm Lc ) 0

(5)

Thus, Profit:

where,
Pi price received by the farmer for their production;
Pm price of the food purchased from the market;
wLh wages paid to the hired labor;
Bc cost of borrowing; and
Lc cost of using land.
Profit or surplus earning of the household:
Y* Y*( Qi, Pi, Pm, wLh, Bc, Lc, N, wLf )

(6)

It is assumed that household uses labor, agricultural land, agricultural credit, zakat,
fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation as inputs for household agricultural production. Thus
household input function is:
I I ( Pr, wLh, Z, Cr, Ld, T )

where I demand for input; wLh wage for hired labor; T available technology; Pr
average price of inputs used for producing Si; Z amount of zakat; Cr amount of
credit; and Ld total land of the household:
I* I*( Pr, wLh, Z, Cr, Ld, T )

(7)

339

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Household farm production will depend on the household input demands. Thus:
Qi Q ( I )
Q* Q*( Pr, wLh, Z, Cr, Ld, T )

(8)

From equation (6), it can be written: Y* Y* (Qi, Pi, Pm, wLh, Bc, Lc, N, wLf)
Y* Y* ( Pr, wLh, Z, Cr, Ld, T ), Pi, Pm, wLh, Bc, Lc, N, wLf
Y* Y* ( Pr, Cr, Z, Ld ;T, Pi, Pm, wLh, wLf, Bc, Lc, N )

(9)

Consumption demand can be solved in terms of income, amount of zakat, quantities

produced and amount of credit and household demographic characteristics:
C* C* [Qi ( Pr, wLh, Z, Cr, Ld, T );
Y* ( Pr, Cr, Z, Ld, T, Pi, Pm, wLh, wLf, Bc, Lc, N ) ; Ri, Dh ]

Opinion of zakat
recipients on
food security

(10)

It is to be noted that this framework has been adopted and modified from Faridi and
Wadood (2010).

6. Methodology
Primary data were collected from the beneficiaries of the Hasana program. The lists
of the households were collected from the local offices of the Hasana program of
Manikganj District in Bangladesh. From the total list of the beneficiaries, samples
were selected for this study using the simple random sampling (SRS) technique. A
total of 149 households were selected from the 196 households by using online
sample-size calculator conceiving four per cent of error. Survey was conducted
during January to March 2011.
In this study, the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique was used to assess the
impact of zakat on food security status of the zakat recipients. Heteroscedasticity is
a serious problem if it arises, and this problem can be solved using the following
methods:
heteroscedasticy-consistent estimation method (Whites method); and
weighted least square (Asteriou and Hall, 2007).
Heteroscedasticity problem was detected in this study which was corrected using
Whites method.

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340

Household agricultural production model:

P 0 1X1 2X2 3X3 4X4 5X5 6X6 7X7
8X8 9X9 10X10 11X11 12X12 13X13
14X14 1

(11)

where,
P average annual agricultural production of the household during 2008-2010 (kg).
X1 total land (decimal).
X2 total non-institutional loan received Bangladesh Taka (BDT).
X3 distance of cold storage (km).
X4 family members in off-farm activities (number).
X5 total number of agricultural input support received from MACCA and agricultural
extension offices.
X6 agricultural training received (number).
X7 distance of rural market (km).
X8 family members in farming (number).
X9 diversification of agricultural activities (number).
X10 average price of inputs (BDT/kg).
X11 average amount of zakat received (BDT).
X12 natural calamity faced (number).
X13 distance of rural bank (km).
X14 average total income (BDT).
0 constant.
i coefficient to be estimated.
1 error term.
Food expenditure model:
F 0 1Y1 2Y2 3Y3 4Y4 5Y5 2

(12)

where
F mean amount of annual food expenditure by household during 2008-2010 (BDT).
Y1 mean amount of annual income (BDT).
Y2 total agricultural land possessed (decimal).
Y3 mean amount of annual zakat received (BDT).
Y4 number of agricultural technology used.
Y5 number of IGA pursued.
0 constant.
i coefficient to be estimated.
2 error term.
The logit model was used by the various authors to assess the opinions of the project
beneficiaries on the economic well-being, female empowerment and contraceptive use
(Mahmud et al., 2007; Zaman, 2001; Amin et al., 1994). The logit model is appropriate to use
when the dependent variable is dichotomous (Mahmud et al., 2012). In this study, the dependent

variable Food security had two categories. Household family members capable of taking
three meals per day was considered as food secured and coded as one otherwise coded as
zero.

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recipients on
food security

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Ln Pi / ( 1 Pi ) 0 1Z1 2Z2 3Z3 4Z4 5Z5 6Z6

(13)
7Z7 8Z8 9Z9 10Z10 11Z11 12Z12 3
where,
Z1 mean amount of annual income of the household during 2008 and 2010
(BDT).
Z2 number of years of schooling of the zakat recipient.
Z3 total leased-in land during the period (decimal).
Z4 number of irrigation equipments possessed.
Z5 number of non-institutional loan taken.
Z6 average agricultural production (kg).
Z7 number of natural hazards faced.
Z8 average time spent on IGAs (hours/day).
Z9 distance of rural market (km).
Z10 number of IGA training received after joining the zakat program.
Z11 distance of MACCAs branch office (km)
Z12 number of times zakat received
Pi probability that the household would be food secured
1Pi probability that the household would not be food secured
0 constant
i
coefficient to be estimated
3 error term
It is to be mentioned that the variables under consideration are for the period 2008- 2010.
7. Results and discussions
7.1 Factors of agricultural production
Poor farmers cannot purchase and use inputs adequately due to their poverty. Without
proper use of input, it is impossible to obtain desired level of output. Thus, higher production
largely depends on the availability of inputs and its use on time. In this study, agricultural
inputs are represented by irrigation, seed, fertilizer, agricultural equipment and credit
facilities. It is expected that beneficiaries of the Hasana program would obtain adequate
input supports from the government agencies and MACCA, and these input supports would
enhance agricultural production. The study shows that input support was positively and
significantly related to the dependent variable: agricultural production (Table I).
Most of the farmers practice traditional agricultural activities which result in low
production. Thus, it is important to disseminate modern technology to them for
increasing agricultural production through providing trainings on agricultural
activities. Training assists farmers in improving their technical knowledge, negotiating
skills, risk management and agricultural production capacity. This study shows that
training was positively and significantly related to the dependent variable (Table I).
In Bangladesh, natural calamity (such as flood, drought, hailstorm, pest-attacks etc.) is a
common phenomenon. Farmers fail to operate their agricultural production activities

341

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342

Table I.
Determinants of
agricultural production

Variable

Coefficient

t-value

Level of significance

0
X1
X2
X3
X4
X5
X6
X7
X8
X9
X10
X11
X12
X13
X14
R2: 0.129647

36.20188
0.048888
0.000170
0.370126
0.381270
2.902100
2.813207
0.145717
1.851885
0.001401
0.000642
1.888174
1.430148
0.306638
0.786102

4.871871
0.690602
0.317405
1.610902
0.444789
3.351381
2.607560
0.847185
1.230599
1.839098
0.556433
1.088902
2.060133
1.726224
0.557108

0.0000
0.4904
0.7512
0.1083
0.6568
0.0009
0.0096
0.3976
0.2195
0.0669
0.5783
0.2771
0.0403
0.0854
0.5779

Source: Survey (2011)

properly and receive low level of production due to natural calamity. Huge amount of
agricultural products are damaged because of natural calamity which brings lower income
for the poor households. Moreover, it also increases production cost and disrupts the
distribution system. This study shows that natural calamity was significantly and negatively
related to the dependent variable agricultural production which indicates that agricultural
production activities decrease as the number of natural calamity increases (Table I).
7.2 Factors influencing household food expenditure
The primary goal of the zakat program is to increase households income so that their
ability of purchasing food increases. In fact, low level of income is one of the major
obstacles for rural households for improving their living standard in terms of food
production and consumption. It is expected that the household would be capable of
increasing their income through IGAs under the zakat program, and they would be
capable of improving their food security status. This study shows that household

Variable

0
Y1
Y2
Y3
Y4
Y5
R2: 0.440162

Table II.
Influencing factors of food
Source: Survey (2011)
expenditure

Coefficient

t-value

Level of significance

3.317235
0.455857
0.046450
0.192503
0.164783
0.101055

0.410220
6.010632
0.998407
0.233857
3.669524
2.089043

0.6824
0.0000
0.3202
0.8155
0.0004
0.0389

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income was positively and significantly related to household food expenditure. It

indicates that the food expenditure increases as income increases (Table II).
In the rural areas of Bangladesh, the opportunities of pursuing IGAs are limited mainly
due to lack of training facilities, inadequate infrastructural facilities and lack of rural
financing. Many rural people with even necessary skills cannot participate in the economic
activities due to lack of financial support. Therefore, it is important to create more
employment opportunities in the rural areas for alleviating poverty. The households that are
capable of pursuing multiple IGAs would be in an advantageous position in terms of income,
production and food consumption as compared to the households pursuing single IGA. This
study shows that the number of IGAs pursued by the household was positively and
significantly related to households food expenditure (Table II).
Farmers in the rural areas in Bangladesh even cannot use available agricultural
technology properly because of their lack of income and unawareness. Because of lack of
adoption of modern agricultural technology in farming agricultural productivity is low
in Bangladesh. It is important to transfer modern agricultural technologies to the
farmers easily at a reasonable price. A farmer who uses modern technologies in crop
farming would be in advantageous position in terms of production, income and
expenditure than a farmer who relies on traditional farming. This study shows that
household food expenditure was positively and significantly influenced by the number
of agricultural technologies used by the household (Table II).

Opinion of zakat
recipients on
food security
343

7.3 Opinion of the zakat recipients on food security

A logit model was applied to assess the opinion of the zakat recipients on the living standard
in terms of food security. The dependent variable Food-secured was dichotomous. Food
security was measured based on the number of meals taken by the households per day. In
this study, households which were receiving three meals per day were considered as food

Variable

Coefficient

Wald

0
19.972
0.740
0.000
17.427
Z1
0.529
1.289
Z2
0.014
0.355
Z3
0.378
0.260
Z4
0.013
0.001
Z5
0.000
0.448
Z6
2.356
2.904
Z7
1.454
1.298
Z8
1.481
1.989
Z9
4.557
0.181
Z10
0.076
0.017
Z11
6.586
0.0371
Z12
Cox and Snell R2: 0.247
Nagelkerke: 0.444
Hosmer-Lameshow (H-L) 2: 9.952 with 8 df
Note: Probability [odd/(1 odd)]
Source: Survey (2011)

Level of significance

Odd ratio

0.390
0.00
0.256
0.551
0.610
0.977
0.504
0.088
0.255
0.158
0.671
0.895
0.542

1.000
1.697
0.986
1.457
0.988
1.000
0.095
4.280
0.227
95.270
0.927
724.877
0.000

Table III.
Estimated results of Logit
model

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secured, and they were coded as one otherwise coded as zero. The study showed that out of
12 only 1 variable was significantly related to the households food security (Table III).
Households under study had low level of education, limited income and small asset
base. Due to lack of capital, they could not pursue IGAs properly and thus obtained low
production and income. Due to low level of income, they even failed to meet their basic
needs like food. One of the primary goals of the program was to increase household
income through IGAs. It was expected that due to program intervention, household
income would increase to a substantial level to be food secured. This study showed that
household income was significantly and positively related to the dependent variable. It
indicates that household would be more food-secured as income increases. The
probability for the household to be food-secured would increase by 63 per cent due to
increase in additional one unit of income (Table III).
8. Conclusion
This study shows that zakat money provided to the poor could not create any significant
influence on their agricultural production, food expenditure and food security status.
Lack of proper monitoring by the project staff, inadequate training facilities, lack of
infrastructural facilities and small amount of fund might be the major reasons behind
such failure. The Zakat program might play a significant role in improving the living
standard if the program is properly designed and monitored as per the needs of poor
zakat recipients. Policy makers should focus on the following aspects for improving the
living standard of the poor:
Agricultural insurance policies must be introduced for the poor farmers to cover the
losses due to risks, uncertainties and disaster damages. Awareness-building program
should be strengthened to combat against natural disaster. It is also important to
modernize the weather forecasting and agricultural information systems.
Steps should be taken to disseminate modern agricultural technologies for increasing
skills to enable households to generate more income from the IGAs. Rural
infrastructural facilities (like dams, roads, culverts, rural markets, rural banks,
cold-storages, etc.) should be built with effective public and private partnership for
increasing household income and rural employment opportunities.
Steps should be taken not only to provide zakat fund but also to provide educational
facilities, training and necessary agricultural equipments to the poor (at a nominal rate)
for improving their living standard.
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Corresponding author
Kazi Tanvir Mahmud can be contacted at: aushim@gmail.com

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Opinion of zakat
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