Does Resilience Capacity Reduce the Negative Impact of Shocks on Household Food Security? Evidence from the 2014 Floods in Northern Bangladesh

Using data collected before and after the catastrophic flooding that took place in northern Bangladesh in 2014, this paper contributes to the growing evidence on the factors enhancing households' resilience to shocks, or their “resilience capacities”. The analysis takes into account all three dimensions of resilience capacity-absorptive, adaptive, and transformative-as well as a broad range of specific capacities supporting them. In addition to disaster preparedness and mitigation, it finds suggestive evidence that the following capacities reduced the negative impact of the flooding on household food security: social capital, human capital, exposure to information, asset holdings, livelihood diversity, safety nets, access to markets and services, women's empowerment, governance, and psycho-social capabilities such as aspirations and confidence to adapt. The paper highlights the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to understanding the determinants of resilience in future research, one that accounts for the full range of potential capacities. It also points to the value of taking a cross-sectoral, multi-intervention approach to on-the-ground resilience programing in Bangladesh and other developing-country areas that are increasingly vulnerable to climate shocks.