Bangladesh Coping Strategies 1998-99

The original objective for collecting this detailed household data set arose from the concern about food security of the rural households and non-availability of job opportunities during the flood of 1998 and in the period following the flood, and to suggest policy measures to improve household food security in a sustainable way. The data collected covers 757 households in seven flood-affected rural areas at three points in time over a period of a year between November 1998 and December 1999 to capture the difference in labor participation and food security in the period following the flood and to understand the capabilities of recovering from the shock of the flood. Topics in the household survey include household information, education, employment and training, agricultural activity, fishing and livestock activity, allocation of family labor, social assistance, household assets, credit, housing and sanitation, non-food spending, food expenditure and consumption, health status, and anthropometry. Topics in the community survey include level of agricultural production, employment, prices, cost of farming, economic activity, law and order, intervention programs, and information about the flood at the thana, union, and village level. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the Food Management and Research Support Project (FMRSP), Ministry of Food, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Funding was provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).