Conference Paper2026

Comparative Analysis of Digital Food Ecosystems in Bangladesh: Commercial Platforms versus F-Commerce

Istiaq Ahmed, Faiza Omar Arpita, Ashraful Islam, Rashedur Rahman, M Ashraful Amin

Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

ACM, pp. 1-8

  • Zero Hunger — Relevance: 88%
  • Gender Equality — Relevance: 69%
  • Reduced Inequalities — Relevance: 84%
DOI: 10.1145/3772363.3799045Open AccessURL

Abstract

The rapid digitization of urban food systems in Bangladesh has split into two distinct operational models: centralized Commercial Platforms (e.g., Foodpanda, Pathao) and decentralized F-commerce (Facebook-based commerce). Using a critical adaptation of the Food Movement Values framework, this study compares these models across Food Security, Food Justice, and Food Sovereignty. Our multi-source study analyzed the two market-leading commercial apps and directly observed 45 F-commerce seller pages, alongside a manually coded corpus of 2,150 posts and 6,800 comments from active community groups. Commercial Platforms optimize for speed but perpetuate “digital food deserts" and reinforce class hierarchies. In contrast, F-commerce demonstrates superior alignment with ethical values, empowering marginalized female entrepreneurs, preserving regional culinary heritage, and maintaining direct links to local agriculture, despite experiencing logistical friction. While corporate platforms modernize logistics, F-commerce sustains the social integrity of the food system, necessitating future hybrid infrastructures that combine technological efficiency with community autonomy.

Keywords

  • food justice
  • food sovereignty
  • local agriculture
  • women entrepreneurs
  • food delivery apps
  • culinary heritage
  • class hierarchy
  • Food security
  • community food systems
  • Bangladesh

CCDS Authors

Istiaq Ahmed
Istiaq Ahmed

Istiaq Ahmed

  • Research Assistant, HCI Wing

Published at

CHI, HCII

Research Interests

mHealth, Human-Computer Interaction, Cross-Platform App/Website Development

Ashraful Islam, PhD
Ashraful Islam

Ashraful Islam, PhD

  • Center Director, CCDS
  • Director, HCI Wing

Assistant Professor

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB)

Published at

CHI, UIST, UbiComp, IJCNN, ICIP, HCII, ICDMW, BLP, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, JMIR, JMIR Human Factors, JMIR Formative Research, IEEE Access, Smart Agricultural Technology, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, PLOS ONE

Research Interests

Human-Computer Interaction, AI for Social Good, AI for Public Health, AI for Impact

Md. Rashedur Rahman, D. Eng.
Md. Rashedur Rahman, D. Eng.

Md. Rashedur Rahman, D. Eng.

  • Co-Director, MIRA & NEST Wings

Assistant Professor

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Independent University, Bangladesh

Published at

CHI, HCII, Scientific Reports, Cognitive Computation, Neural Computing and Applications

Prof. M Ashraful Amin, PhD
M Ashraful Amin, PhD

Prof. M Ashraful Amin, PhD

  • Founder Director, CCDS
  • Director, AI/ML, HCI & DS Wings

Professor

+1 more affiliation

Department of Information Sciences and Technology

George Mason University, USA

Published at

ACL, CHI, UbiComp, ECAI, WACV, PAKDD, IJCNN, ICPR, ICIP, HCII, CLEF, BLP, Scientific Reports, JMIR, IEEE Access, Smart Agricultural Technology, Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, PLOS ONE

Research Interests

Machine Learning, Cognitive & Vision Science, Cybernetics, Surveillance & Security, ICT in Education, Health, & Agriculture, Human-Computer Interaction, Internet of Things, Robotics

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