JBS Vol 01. Num 1-2. 1999 - PROFESSOR AMARTYA SEN AND THE 1974 BANGLADESH FAMINE

This paper investigates (within Professor Amartya Sen’s entitlement approach) some aspects of
economic events that led to the 1974 Bangladesh famine. It argues that this famine was not caused by a
sudden decline in the aggregate availability of food by natural disasters; rather, the genesis of it can be
traced to expansionary economic policies that the government of Bangladesh undertook immediately
after the independence of the country. In fact the process of famine started in 1972 when inflation took
off in an otherwise price stable country. By the time inflation exploded in 1974 a large section of the
rural people belonging to the lower middle class had already slid downward into the poverty trap. Their
exchange entitlement failed when rural employment opportunities decreased due to floods and food
prices rose sharply due to precautionary and speculative attacks on food markets. The paper concludes
by drawing some policy implications within a broader political economy perspective.