The Bengal Famine of 1943

How millions died in Bengal in 1943, why Amartya Sen argued it was caused by collapsing purchasing power rather than a simple lack of food, and its lessons.

In 1943, a famine struck Bengal in British-ruled India. Estimates of deaths from starvation and disease range from around 2 million to 3 million people. It was one of the deadliest famines of the twentieth century.

The context

The famine occurred during the Second World War. Japan had occupied Burma in 1942, cutting off rice imports from there. A cyclone in October 1942 damaged crops. War spending and military demand drove prices up. British authorities followed a “denial policy” in coastal Bengal, removing boats and rice stocks to prevent them from being used by a possible Japanese invasion, which disrupted livelihoods and food supplies.

Sen’s entitlement approach

The economist Amartya Sen, who witnessed the famine as a child, later studied it in his 1981 book Poverty and Famines. He argued that the total food supply in Bengal in 1943 was not dramatically lower than in some earlier years without famine. Instead, the famine was caused by a collapse in some people’s entitlements: their ability to obtain food through wages, production or trade.

Wartime inflation caused food prices to rise far faster than the wages of rural labourers, fishermen and craftsmen. These groups could no longer afford rice, while others, including those benefiting from war spending, could. Food moved toward those with money, and the poorest starved.

Government response

Historians and economists have criticised the colonial government’s response. Relief was slow, the famine was not officially declared for months, and requests to import more food were largely refused or delayed by the British government in London. Some historians debate the size of the food shortage, but most agree policy failures worsened the disaster.

Prices versus wages

Before the famine, a day's wage might buy a labourer enough rice for his family. As rice prices tripled or more while wages barely rose, the same day's wage bought only a fraction of the rice needed. The labourer's entitlement to food collapsed, even though rice was still being sold in markets.

Lessons

Sen’s work showed that famines can occur even when food is available, if people lose the means to buy it. He also argued that famines rarely occur in functioning democracies with a free press, because governments face pressure to act. Independent India has not suffered a major famine, which Sen linked partly to democracy and a free press.

Thinking famines are always caused by lack of food

Food shortages can contribute, but famines often result from people losing their ability to obtain food, through falling wages, rising prices or disrupted livelihoods. Protecting incomes and distributing food can prevent famine even when harvests fall.

Key takeaways

The 1943 Bengal Famine killed an estimated 2 to 3 million people.
War, lost Burmese rice imports, a cyclone and colonial policies contributed.
Amartya Sen argued it was caused by collapsing entitlements, especially from wartime inflation.
Sen linked the absence of famines to democracy and a free press.