The Bangladesh famine of 1974 (Bengali: চুয়াত্তরের দুর্ভিক্ষ, romanized: Chuattor-Ēr Durbhikkho) began in March 1974 and ended in about December of the same year.

The famine is considered one of the worst in the 20th century; it was caused by government mismanagement, food grain smuggling to neighboring countries and flooding along the Brahmaputra River among other issues, resulting in high mortality.

According to Time magazine:[2] In the aftermath of the Pakistani army's rampage last March, a special team of inspectors from the World Bank observed that some cities looked "like the morning after a nuclear attack."

Private cars were picked up off the streets or confiscated from auto dealers and shipped to the West before the ports were closed.Warnings of famine began in March 1974 when the price of rice rose sharply.

In April, though government officials reiterated that the crisis would be temporary, rice prices continued to rise sharply and reports of starvation became more widespread.

In October, rice prices peaked and conditions eased by November 1974 as foreign aid and the winter crop arrived.

[3][4] For this reason, scholars argue that, "food availability approach offers very little in the way of explanation of the Bangladesh famine of 1974".

The first failure was internal: the specific configuration of the state rationing system and the market resulted in speculative hoarding by farmers and traders and a consequent rise in prices.

And by the time, Bangladesh succumbed to the American pressure, and stopped jute exports to Cuba, the food aid in transit was "too late for famine victims".

The government soup kitchens provided basic rations consisting of either a single roti, or four ounces of a porridge made of rice and daal.