In an era marked by globalization and rapid technological advancements, the agri-food sector confronts both unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Among these, digital traceability systems have emerged as pivotal in enhancing operational efficiencies, ensuring food safety, and promoting transparency throughout the supply chain. This study presents a comparative analysis of digital traceability adoption and its impact across member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). By utilizing a multidimensional analytical framework, this study investigates national regulations, legal frameworks, and key food commodities affected by digital traceability implementations. It systematically assesses the efficacy of these systems in meeting consumer transparency expectations, regulatory compliance, and the overarching goal of sustainable agri-food supply chains. Through case studies and empirical evidence, the paper elucidates the complex interplay between technological innovation and regulatory environments, offering insights into best practices and potential integration barriers. Ultimately, this comprehensive investigation contributes to the scholarly discourse on digital traceability, providing actionable recommendations for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and academia to navigate the complexities of modern agri-food systems.

The relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and economic growth in host countries is a heavily debated issue. Although some studies have found evidence of the positive impact of FDI on economic growth, others have revealed the opposite result. Studies that examined the causality between FDI and gross domestic product (GDP) also have found evidence of unidirectional causality and, in some cases, a bidirectional causality. This study investigated the causal nexus between FDI and GDP in Bangladesh by employing standard time-series econometric tools, namely, augmented Dickey-Fuller, augmented Dickey-Fuller generalized least square, Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin, and Lee-Strazicich unit root tests to check stationarity, augmented autoregressive distributed lag (augmented ARDL) bounds testing approach to check cointegration, and Granger causality to explore the direction of causality. The augmented ARDL model found a long-run relationship between FDI and GDP. In addition, the error correction model and Granger causality results indicated the presence of a unidirectional causality running from GDP to FDI.

Background and objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted health systems worldwide, including in Bangladesh, limiting access to family planning information (FP) and services. Unfortunately, the evidence on the factors linked to such disruption is limited, and no study has addressed the link among Bangladeshis. This study aimed to examine the socioeconomic, demographic, and other critical factors linked to the use of FP in the studied areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The characteristics of the respondents were assessed using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey and descriptive statistics. The variables that were substantially linked with FP usage were identified using a Chi-square test. In addition, a multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the parameters linked to FP in the study areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The prevalence of FP use among currently married 15–49 years aged women was 36.03% suggesting a 23% (approximately) decrease compared to before pandemic data. Results also showed that 24.42% of the respondents were using oral contraceptive pills (OCP) which is lower than before pandemic data (61.7%). Multivariate regression analysis provided broader insight into the factors affecting FP use. Results showed that woman’s age, education level of the respondents, working status of the household head, locality, reading a newspaper, FP workers’ advice, currently using OCP, ever used OCP, husbands’ supportive attitude towards OCP use, duration of the marriage, ever pregnant, the number of children and dead child were significantly associated with FP use in the study areas during COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: This study discusses unobserved factors that contributed to a reduction in FP use and identifies impediments to FP use in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 epidemic. This research further adds to our understanding of FP usage by revealing the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on FP use in Bangladesh’s rural and urban areas.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of individuals across various populations. People with disabilities (PWDs) are particularly vulnerable to these effects, yet there is a lack of studies investigating the mental health of PWDs in Bangladesh. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of and factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among PWDs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Methods: Data was collected through interviews with 391 PWDs between December 2020 and February 2021. Demographic information, clinical characteristics, and scores from the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) were obtained. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between psychological measures and potential risk factors. Results: The prevalence was found to be 65.7% for depression, 78.5% for anxiety, and 61.4% for stress, respectively. Several factors were identified as associated with these mental health issues, including gender (male), marital status (being married), low education levels, multiple impairments, comorbid medical illnesses, poor sleep quality, rural residency, hearing disability, disability onset later in life, and testing positive for COVID-19. Conclusions: The prevalence was found to be 65.7% for depression, 78.5% for anxiety, and 61.4% for stress, respectively. Several factors were identified as associated with these mental health issues, including gender (male), marital status (being married), low education levels, multiple impairments, comorbid medical illnesses, poor sleep quality, rural residency, hearing disability, disability onset later in life, and testing positive for COVID-19.

This study examines foreign direct investment (FDI)-growth and trade-growth relationships in Bangladesh during three major crises: the economic crisis of 2007–2008, the commodity crisis of 2016, and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020. The augmented autoregressive distributed lag (AARDL) bounds testing approach and Bayer and Hanck cointegration are employed on time-series data spanning the period 1974–2020. The results suggest that exports have positive effects on economic growth, while imports have insignificant effects in both the short run and long run. Total trade (the sum of exports and imports) has a positive but weakly significant effect on economic growth only in the long run, whereas FDI exhibits a positive effect in both the short run and long run. Although the crises are not found to affect economic growth directly or through trade (i.e., no dampening effect on trade-led growth), they are found to distort FDI-led growth in both the short run and long run. As robustness tests for long-run elasticities, the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) cointegration techniques are implemented, yielding results similar to those obtained with the AARDL.