The present study was to explore the poverty status and adopted coping
strategies during food insecurity of haor people by analyzing the data of 4,065
households collected from 30 haor areas under a FAO funded project. Using the
Costs of Basic Needs method, it was found out that about 29.6% of the households
were below the lower poverty line and about 43% households were below the upper
poverty line. Using the lower and upper poverty lines, the poverty gaps were
estimated at 7.6% and 12.4%, respectively measuring the depth of poverty by the two
lines; while the squared poverty gaps were obtained at 3.0% and 5.2%, measuring
the severity of the poverty. Main reasons of food insecurity were landlessness, monocrop
cultivation, seasonal unemployment and natural calamities. The extent of food
insecurity was found to vary significantly according to the occupation of the household
head, landholdings and location (district). The specific and immediate measures for
overcoming the food insecurity situation were debt from anywhere (84.1%), borrowing
food items from relatives (60.2%) and reduction of the familial expenses (66.7%). As
general strategies to cope with poverty and food insecurity, nearly four-fifths iterated
their reliance upon borrowing money, over half upon reducing food cost and over twofifths
upon needing help from relatives. It is to be noted that 8.1% households
depleted their productive assets directly in terms of sold land or household assets to
cope with food insecurity. The results indicated that borrowing money mostly from the
local moneylenders was the most adopted measure and strategy to overcome the
food insecurity situation and the consequences of this very culture were to entrap the
victims into vicious cycle and to be destitute untimely. As the necessary measures for
ensuring food security, most of the respondents urged for the work opportunity round
the year and government support programs.