Maintaining Food Security in the Wake of a Natural Disaster: Policy and Household Response to the 1998 Floods in Bangladesh

In 1998, Bangladesh was devastated by the worst flood of the century. At their peak, the 1998 floods covered two thirds of Bangladesh, causing severe damage to the major rice crop and threatening the food security of tens of millions of households. Ultimately, well-functioning private markets, suitable government policies, and public and NGO interventions combined with effective private coping strategies to prevent a major post-disaster crisis. This paper summarizes the results of several research reports and other publications in describing how the 1998 flood affected food security in Bangladesh at the national and household levels, the response of the government to the crisis, and the coping strategies employed by the households themselves. Much of the analysis summarized in the paper is based on a panel data set covering 750 households in flood-affected regions in three rounds over a 13-month period. The study finds that private imports, made possible by trade liberalization in the early 1990s, helped to stabilize markets and limit increases in rice prices, thereby dampening the adverse effects of higher prices on household calorie consumption. Private sector borrowing, a major household coping strategy , also played a key role in helping households to maintain consumption. However, long-term debts increased, making these households more vulnerable to future shocks. Additional public interventions, including investments in agricultural research and rural infrastructure, programs to reduce chronic malnutrition, and targeted transfer and credit-pro-rams to disaster-affected households, could further mitigate the impact of natural disasters in the future.