www.brac.net

Gendered Impact of BRAC’s Ultra Poor

Programme

Md. Kamruzzaman

Nusrat Z Hossain

Jinnat Ara

Wameq A Raza

Narayan C Das

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The Research and Evaluation

Division of BRAC

• Established in 1975 as an independent unit within

BRAC

• Largest research unit within an NGO (nearly 100 full-

time staff)

• A multidisciplinary research environment

• Primarily mandated to provide research support to

BRAC programmes:

• Design, implementation and fine-tuning

• Impact evaluation

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BRAC response to ultra-poverty:

Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction

(CFPR)

Programme Background:

• BRAC learned from its 40 yrs of experience through a

number of programmes (such as IGVGD)

• In order to build the bridge between the ultra poor and

mainstream poverty, BRAC innovated CFPR

• Although predominantly a grant-based approach, it

adopts a holistic attitude in dealing with ultra poverty

reduction

• Lunching in 2002, CFPR has already covered about

400,000 ultra poor households

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Programme Background (cont’d)

• Three staged targeting

• Income Generating Assets(IGA) selection and training

(usually livestock/poultry/nursery or a combination

through expert consultation)

• The finally selected ultra-poor were then provided

income generating assets (IGA) worth ~USD $200

• Continued multifaceted training over the next 24 months

• Total cost per beneficiary: ~USD $292

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Why women were targeted by CFPR

Work considered suitable for women in both treatment and control area:

• The assets provided by the programme are considered to be very suitable for

women given that, especially in the rural context, women rarely leave their homes.

These assets can be taken care of without leaving the homestead premises

• While taking care of the assets, women are usually helped by their family members,

especially children

Work considered suitable for men in both treatment and control area:

• Assets outside the home are considered better for the men as they tend to go outside

their homes, significantly more so than their female counterparts

• Men usually do not opt to take care of assets provided by the programme as they

spend significant amounts of time outside the household

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Sample Design: 2007-2009

40 Branch offices

20 ‘treatment’ branch 20 ‘control’ branch

All primarily selected HH (finally selected + those who failed to make the

final selection)

All primarily selected HH (finally selected + those who failed to make the

final selection)

10% of the rest of the

HH

All villages

10 % of the rest of the HH

All villages

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Current Status:

• Quantitative survey on socio-economic status

completed (third and final round)

• Qualitative study: first draft completed

• Quantitative questionnaire for asset ownership

and control developed, to be implemented

during mid-November to December,2011

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Qualitative Study

Objective:

• To get an insight of the gender aspects related to the

asset holding

• To collect detailed information about the gender

disaggregated asset ownership issues which generally

can not be explored directly through quantitative studies

• Due to the randomized nature of the data, we try to

ascertain pertinent quantitative questions using the

results from the qualitative exploration

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Data: Qualitative Exploration

Study area

• One district (Rangpur)

from Monga (seasonal

food insecurity) area

• One district from

southern Bangladesh

(Madaripur) and

• One district (Netrokona)

from haor areas.

• A total of six branch

offices (one treatment

and one control branch

from each of the three

districts) were covered by

the qualitative study

Data collection & analysis method

• 15 FGDs: 9 in Treatment & 6 in Control area

Respondents:

-Women beneficiaries

-Women non beneficiaries

-Men (spouses of beneficiary women)

• 6 In-depth interviews: Treatment area

Respondents:

-Programme staff

-Community people

• Data collection was carried out during

March- April, 2011.

• Data was analyzed using the content

analysis method

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Extent of Asset Ownership: Study Findings

• Control predominantly depends on the value of the assets in question. Low

value assets such as food items and so forth are controlled by women, whereas

income generating assets and so forth are controlled by the men

• Men often tend to dominate when it comes to making decisions about family

assets.

• Women have the rights to sell household utensils, own attires and cosmetics

and own cultivated vegetable.

• Both men and the women can’t lend out products used by the other without

permission

• Decision of choosing heir is taken by both husband and wife

• Where the women spend their own income is usually up to them, and this

income usually pertains to very small scaled assets such as selling eggs, some

vegetables and so forth from within their homesteads

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Qualitative Study Findings

Asset ownership

Assets typically owned jointly by men and women

Assets owned by women (both areas)

Assets owned by women in treatment area

House

Homestead

Cash money (earned from joint controlling assets/ labor selling)

Mortgaged-in land

Own land (crops)

Poultry and egg

fruits, vegetables

Kitchen utensils

Quilt/ pillow

Women’s clothing and accessories

Cash money (from personal income)

Food (rice, pulse, sugar, salt)

Items bought from own earned money

Poultry and livestock received from programme

Radio

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Ownership of the assets transferred by CFPR/TUP (BRAC)

• The beneficiaries women demanded the using rights of assets, given by programme,

“He won’t take them. Even if he does, BRAC will give them back to me. I certainly

will fight for the rights over my assets.” -Beneficiary Women, Rangpur.

• Divorcees/widows hold the sole rights when it comes to selling her assets

• Usually decisions about spending the lion’s share of the earning generated from the

program assets are taken jointly by both husband and wife together

• Women have the right to bequeath her CFPR assets to whomever she choosed

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• “When assets are given to men they are too excited about getting these to

concentrate on the ways to improve their fate through proper utilization. They

become more reluctant and prefer spending more time in gossiping and smoking

biri/cigarette or gambling”. - FGD, Beneficiary male spouse, Rangpur

• One of the main reasons why men are not given the assets is that many of them are

not considered responsible enough to be taking care of them adequately. Anecdotal

evidence suggests men are prone to playing fast and loose with their assets

• Women are primarily disadvantaged, and this transfer would promote their earning

opportunity and empowerment, “It is better to give assets to the women. Because

now even if the husbands want to sell them, wives would not let them do so” –

FGD, Beneficiary male spouse, Rangpur

Findings reiterated initial thoughts on

centering the programme around women:

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Project Impact on Beneficiary Women

• Improved economic well-being

• Improved human and social capital

• Improved crisis coping mechanisms through savings

and various asset accumulation

• Spill-over effects

• Improved family relationships

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Thank You!