Implications of high food inflation on food security in urban slum households in Bangladesh

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent Russia-Ukraine war have significantly increased inflation, especially food inflation, posing challenges to macroeconomic stability in Bangladesh. Rising overall food prices have worsen the food security status of the marginalized populations. More importantly, the urban poor living in the slums or low-income settings are disproportionately affected by inflation-induced food insecurity. This research explores the ways how urban slum dwellers in Bangladesh deal with the challenges of declining purchasing power due to high food inflation. The study is based on a representative random sample of 704 slum households located in Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) areas, examining their food insecurity status during periods of high inflation compared to low inflationary situations using Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). Predictors of food insecurity and coping strategies are identified using descriptive statistics and the Probit regression model. The findings reveal that rising food prices have significantly exacerbated food insecurity, disproportionately affecting slum households with diverse socioeconomic characteristics. Among food secured households during periods of low inflation, high food prices caused 46% of them to become mild food insecure, 21% to become moderate food insecure and 12% to become severe food insecure, while the remaining 21% could remain food secure despite high food inflation. The severity of food insecurity and the availability of coping techniques vary significantly among slum residents with different socioeconomic backgrounds. Negative coping strategies such as buying fewer goods, eating less nutritious foods, taking loans, withdrawing children from school, working overtime, selling properties and starving, are the most common among the slum households. These findings can help design appropriate policies to mitigate the impact of inflation on food security of the urban slum households in Bangladesh.