ABSTRACT

Flood events are very common in low lying areas of Bangladesh, and an understanding of the strategies that shape households’ capacity to adapt to flooding is crucial in developing flood mitigation policies. This paper explores the household level strategies that Bangladeshi island dwellers use to minimize the negative impacts of floods. The primary data were collected on the five Padma River islands of the Nawabganj district of Bangladesh, using questionnaires and field observation to establish household level economic, social and technological strategies for coping with flood disasters. The data were analyzed statistically. In this region, households fight flood disasters according to their abilities and levels of exposure to risk, deploying various strategies at different periods of time. Many households are forced to reduce their levels of consumption, sell important assets and borrow money to repair flood damage to their houses. Social coping strategies such as preserving food, evacuating important family assets, and family members are moderately well used. The findings from this research provide a cross-cutting context to addressing United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 relating to the need for urgent action to combat the implications of climate change, specifically target 13.1 (strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries). Moreover, the findings of this chapter are crucial for policymakers when formulating and implementing effective ‘bottom-up’ approaches to flood disaster reduction, and enhancing household level coping strategies across Bangladesh.