Bangladesh is globally known as a flood-vulnerable country—an almost flat land with too much water. In terms of annual per capita availability of water resources, it ranks among the highest in the world. But a lesserknown disaster that affects a significant proportion of its fertile land is drought. The occurrence of droughts may largely be attributed to two recent phenomena: (1) an extensive adoption of high yielding varieties (HYV) of paddy (i.e., rice) in the drier months; and (2) constraints faced in water availability during premonsoon months due to upstream water withdrawal from river systems. Up to 15% of the total cultivable land (about 0.9 million ha) now experiences droughts of moderate to very severe intensity, once in every two years (Iqbal and Ali, 2001). This chapter examines the causes of droughts in the context of the country’s complex water regime, the implications of droughts, and the ways to monitor them. About 80% of annual monsoon rainfall over the country occurs during the period from June to the first week of October. The western zones of the country receive less rainfall, averaging about 1400 mm, compared to the national average of 2150 mm, and therefore the susceptibility to droughts in the western zones of the country is higher. Table 24.1 provides a chronological overview of areas and populations in Bangladesh affected by droughts during the 1950–79 period. The economy of Bangladesh significantly depends on agriculture. More than 63% of 130 million people, confined within a territory of 147,750 km2, find employment in agriculture (MOF, 2003). Although the share of the crop production in the gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining steadily in recent times, dropping from 24.66% in 1990–91 to 18.58% in 2002–03, it still is the predominant economic activity of the majority of the people (Ahmad and Ahmed, 2002). More than 80% of the households in rural Bangladesh are directly dependent on the production of various crops. Paddy (rice) is the main crop, occupying about 80% of the cultivated land. Multiple varieties of paddy are grown in the country.