EPRG 3 Report May 2011

7/31/2019 EPRG 3 Report May 2011

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Extreme Poverty Research Group (EPRG)

3rd Meeting: Protecting the Gains

May 2nd , 2011

Loc ation: Save the Children UK Conference Room, Gulshan 1, Dhaka, Bang lad esh

Preamble

The Extreme Poverty Resea rch Group (EPRG) wa s formed in Sep tember 2010 with the

objective of developing and disseminating knowledge about the nature of extremepo verty and the e ffec tiveness of me asures to a ddress it. Meetings a re held q ua rte rly.

The first me eting of the EPRG to ok p lac e in Oc tober 2010 with a high numb er of

pa rtic ipants from shiree Sc a le a nd Innovation-Fund partners, DFID, and other DFID-

funded extrem e pove rty prog ramm es. The TORs of the EPRG have since b een

am end ed to me et d ifferent partic ipa nt need s. The sec ond meeting of the EPRG too k

place in Janua ry 2011 in which Dr Munir, Directo r of Hunge r and Hea lth a t Save the

Children UK, took the p osition o f Cha ir for 2011. Here, find ings on d efining and

targeting the extreme p oo r we re shared, a nd NGO resea rch idea s end orsed .

The third m eet ing to ok plac e on 2nd of Ma y 2011. The morning session saw Zulfiqar Ali

from BIDS/ Unnayan Shamm anay p resent findings from shiree -funde d resea rc h onreassessing and revalidating quantitative indicators of extreme poverty, followed by

NGO research staff presenting research findings from projects themed around

Prote c ting the Gains . In the afternoon, the group lea rned ab out Innova tion Fund

NGO Change Mo nitoring System findings and d iscussed ideas for future resea rc h, da ta

prote c tion and ethic s. The next mee ting is p lanned for late July/ ea rly August 2011.

This is a c ollec tion of the d iscussions and whic h took p lac e a nd som e o f the key

findings. In the meantime, the research team will be working to further disseminate the

findings of research in different formats to relevant audiences, and will continue to

de velop the EPRG c onc ep t. The EPRG w ill be reviewed on a n annua l basis and

developments will also be posted on the shiree website (http://www.shiree.org/).Contact person: Hannah Marsden, Research Focal Point; [email protected].


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Contents

Morning session

1. Pove rty Threshold Ana lysis Rea ssessing a nd Revalid ating Qua ntitative Indic ato rs -Zulfiqa r Ali (BIDS and Unna yan Sha mm anay) pp . 4-5

2. 6 Scale -Fund NGO research p ac kage presentations: Protecting the Ga ins2.1 Introduction Dr Joe Devine, Depa rtment of Ec onom ics & International Developme nt,

Bath University p.6

2.2Uttaran: Making Productive Use of Khas Land: Experiences of Extreme PoorHouseholds -Sonia Kab ir and Korba n Ali (Utta ran) p p.6-8

2.3Save the Children UK: Vulnerabilities and Resilience among Extreme Poor People:South West Co astal Reg ion Prokriti Nokrek a nd Ara fa t A lam pp.8-10

2.4DSK: Eviction and the Challenges of Protecting Gains: A case study of slum dwellers inDhaka c ity - Ab dul Bate n and Mustak Ahmed pp .10-11

2.5NETZ: Extreme poor adiva sis and the p roblem of a ccessing safety nets Zakir Hossa inpp. 12-13

2.6Practical Action Bangladesh (PAB): Politics of accessing and retaining access to thesandb ars by the e xtreme poo r Aree f Khan a nd Imra n Reza pp.13-15

2.7Care: Soc ial safety nets and the extreme poor learning from a participato ry pro-poor governance app roac h - Saifud d in Ahm ed a nd Ab dul Ba ri pp.15-16

Afternoon session

3. Eme rging Finding s from Cha nge Monitoring System a nd Self-Revie w Workshop s (forInnovation Fund) Jona than Perry a nd Christo phe r Ma c lay pp .16-17

4. Next round of resea rch idea s all p artic ipants pp .18-195. Data and ethics p.196. Colin Risners closing rema rks pp.20-21Annex 1: Participants pp.21-23


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Ac ronyms and a bb reviations

BHHs Benefic iary ho useholds

CLP Chars Livelihood Programme

CM S Change Monitoring System

BIDS Bang lad esh Institute fo r Developme nt Stud ies

DFID Department for International Development (DFID) (UKAID)

EP Extreme poverty

FFH Fem ale-hea ded household

FGD Focus group d iscussion

HH Household

HIES Household Inco me and Expend iture Survey

IGA Inco me-ge nerating ac tivity

PRCPB - Programme for Research on Chronic Poverty Bangladesh

SSNs - Soc ia l Safe ty Nets

UP Union Parisha d

UNO Upazila Nirbahi Officer


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1. Morning sessionPove rty Threshold Ana lysis Rea ssessing and Revalida ting Qua ntitative

Indicators - Zulfiqar Ali (BIDS and Unna yan Sha mmana y)

The o bjec tive of this study wa s to ide ntify a set of e conom ic indicators and

thresholds to q uantitat ively assess extreme pove rty. It first looked a t the m ea n va lues

and household distribut ion b y c and idate po verty indicators with HIES da ta broken

down into the bottom 10%, the extreme poor (lower poverty line), the moderate

po or (upp er pove rty line), and non-poor, and then c om pa red these to shiree CMS 1

(baseline of all households) across 18 indicators.

Findings indica te tha t shiree has suc cessfully ta rgete d below the bo tto m 5% ac ross a

numb er of variab les.

Findings include:

The to ta l non-land asset va lue o f shiree BHHs (at 344 Taka) is significantly lower than

the o ther sources. e.g . HIES bottom 5% (6,614) and HIES bottom 10% (8.805) and

PRCPB Botto m 10% (2, 457). For shiree BHHs (CMS 1), HH size is smaller than those in

HIES data . shiree : 3.23; Bott om HIES bottom 5%: 5.11; HIES bottom 10%: 5.21; PRCPB

(Bot tom 10%): 5.6. This raises the question o f whethe r this is bec ause o f purposive

shiree ta rgeting (e.g . target ing o f elderly and FHHs). FHHs make up 33% of shiree

CMS 1 but in bott om 5% of HIES: 13%; in HIES bottom 10%: 11%; and in PRCPB Bottom

10%: 5.6. This shows suc cessful ta rge ting of extrem e p oor FHHs.

Probit model for extreme poverty (bottom 10%) indicators:

In Slide 7, Y marks significant ind ica to rs. Trip le YYY marks significant ind ica to rs in all

three m od els. This show s tha t the re a re 6 impo rta nt indic a tors of e xtrem e p ove rty:

HHs size; c ultivab le land ; non-land asset va lue; ac cess to elec tric ity; ac cess to to ilet ;

HH hea d o ccupa tion. These 6 indicators are a lens through which to selec t and

target interventions to reduce EP successfully, and monitor graduation.

3 of these a re p ub lic policy va riab les: HH size/ Ac cess to sanitation/ Ac c ess to

electricity (i.e. the government can do more to improve reproductive health

fac ilities and access to elec tric ity and toilets). The o ther 3 are imp ortant HH level

va riab les which EP prog ramm es can wo rk with.

Based on ana lysis, three indicators ma y b e taken into c onsideration in combination

to identify the extreme-poor househo lds as follows. This sugge sts tha t there a re mo re

extreme p oor who are eligible for extreme p overty-foc used programme s.


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1. Land ow nership (cultivab le): Not mo re tha n .50 ac re1

2. Tota l non-land asset : Not more tha n Taka 20,000; and

3. Emp loyment sta tus: At be st wa ge labourer

Points from d iscussions:

o The HH size q uestion is com plex, and needs to b e c om pared with CM S 3 and

urban / rura l d ifferenc es explored . shiree BHHs are not homog ene ous

be c ause o f d iverse p rog ram mes.

o shirees working areas are pockets of extreme poverty (purposive targeting)

where the d ensity of extreme p overty is muc h highe r. To what extent do the

finding s ref lec t th is?

o CLP recently reviewed its selection criteria because of the recommendation

tha t they w ere m issing som e e xtrem e p oo r. These indica tors sugg est this to be

correc t. CLPs existing c rite ria for asset va lue is 5000.

o There is sc op e to test this ag a inst the rec ent ly deve loped multi-d imensiona lity

score-cards and child deve lop ment indica tors. Issues of ab and onm ent and

households re-grouping when assets are transferred might hold unique

imp licat ions for the e xtreme po or.

o Imp ortanc e of no n-MFI involvement needs to b e c onside red .

o

Room for other indicators e.g. selling labour in advance or selling of assets.There is a lso the need for reg iona lly spe c ific indica tors e.g . in the Barind Trac t,

almost 60% Ad ivasis don t have a ny land a nd a re residing on tha t of o the rs.

o There are p rac tica l polic y imp lica tions arising from this which need to b e

explored by the g ove rnme nt, other program me s, donors and NGOs. If it is true

that shiree BHHs are really the bottom 2-3%, it holds implications for the log-

frame and the time p eriod s of inte rvent ions. The issue o f househo ld size ha s

imp lic at ions soc ial c are and we lfare.

1 Note tha t seve ra l of those p resent felt tha t this threshold, a nd tha t fo r asset va lues,

are too high.


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2. 6 Scale-Fund NGO resea rch pac kage presenta tions: Protec ting theGains

2.1 Introd uc tion by Dr Joe Devine, Departme nt o f Ec ono mics & Internationa lDevelopment, Bath University.

The resea rch top ics ident ified by NGOs in Dec em ber 2010 and Janua ry 2011 a ll fell

within the theme of protecting the gains which refers to how gains made through

project involvement need to be sustained (e.g. protected from market forces or a

tidal surge ). Dr Joe Devine ma de three m ain po ints: 1) How c an w e p rote c t the

gains from certain threats? 2) Assets are not contextless and 3) Quite often we

know what works for the poor, but not why it works or why som ething d oesnt wo rk.

The NGO resea rch sta ffs p resenta tions here are p reliminary ana lyses to be

de velope d into working p ap ers and othe r outp uts.

2.2 Uttaran: Making Produc tive Use of Khas Land: Experienc es of Extreme Poo r

Households -Sonia Kab ir and Korba n Ali

It is widely unde rstood tha t khas land c an b e an imp ortant source o f livelihoo d. The

go vernment ha s rec og nised this. But the extreme po ors ab ility to reta in a nd ma ke

the best productive use of khas land rests on several internal and external factors.

Utta ran is transferring land on a tem po rary and pe rma nent b asis com bined with IGA

transfers. Based o n FGDs and in-depths interview s with suc cessful and no n-

succ essful HHs on a range of d ifferent lands (1. Paddy c ent ral 2. Shrimp remote 3.Shrimp cent ra l 4. Paddy & shrimp cent ra l 5. Paddy & shrimp rem ote 6. Paddy

remote) and with UNOs; UPs; Uttaran Bhumi Committees; Uttaran IGA Officers; and

Agricultural Officers, the researchers made the following arguments (based on

supporting evidence):

o Thoug h khas land is c onsidered an impo rta nt source o f livelihood for extrem e

poor people, generating and protecting gains of sustainable livelihoods with

low qua lity, unde r sized and land situated in d iffic ult loc a tions is cha lleng ing.

o The strength and func tiona lity o f the extra-househo ld relationships and

networks that households build up, are key to ensure better productive use of

the land . The m ore non-funct iona l or e xploitative these relationships, the less

successful the households become.

o Khas land is an important source of livelihood but FHHs are not as capable as

be ing suc cessful as the ir ma le counterpa rts. This is due to the fa c t that the

networking with the outside world in relation to production and selling

decisions is still dominated by men. Women therefore shy away or are shied


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aw ay from these conta c ts. This impa c ts negat ively on the ir ability to ma ke

be tte r use o f the ir asset .

Utta ran working area in Satkhira, Khulna


o IGA assista nc e should follow as ea rly as possible a fte r BHH selec tion.

Imp lica tions for the Projec t:

IGA assistanc e a nd land transfers need to b e ha rmonized (amb itious but

difficult).

The p rojec t must exp lore the p ossibility of deve lop ing the khas land s (whe re it is

nec essary) for highe r prod uc tivity. The c rop loa n schem e o f the go vernment

can be explored in this reg ard.

Field level sta ff who are d irec tly invo lved with a ssessing the nee ds of the

households should be trained up in income generating activities especially fish

cultivation and agriculture so that they can assist the households in deciding the

right IGAs.

The p rojec t should p rovide more foc us on the IGA trainings and ma ke them

de monstrat ion ba sed (espe c ially for wo men). This wo uld enc ourage households

to change their existing low production generating practices to get the highest

return from whatever they are investing in the land. FHHs should be given more

attention in this reg ard .

The p rojec t must encourage khas land rec eiver households to ac cess the

fac ility of c rop loa n p rovided by fo rma l ba nks. This wo uld ensure a c cess to cap ital

for the households for co ntinued produc tion.


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o Uttarans motivational group approach and local campaigning forms an

imp ortant pa rt o f the land transfer proce ss.

o 23% of BHHs have already received land (4,000 BHHs from last year). It is a

continuous process. Permanent access takes more time.

o There is po tential to d evelop the resea rch by c om pa ring tho se who ha ve no t

yet received khas land but are rece iving IGAs with those w ith land and IGAs.

o How to reconcile that FHHs are facing large difficulties in using land in the

context where som e NGOs (e.g. SCUK) are g iving mo re a ssets to wo me n.

There may also b e a link betw een the imp ortanc e of the q uality of

relat ionships and FHHs. The resea rchers rec om me ndat ions to the projec t a re

to strengthen the role of females in group and organisation activities; Make

training structures more demonstration-based so they can see IGAs are cost

effective; More linking with other agriculture departments; Linking with para

vets and change agents for future sustainability for increased access to

information.

o Uttarans criterion goes lower than the government they need to be

comm ende d for this.

o The role of d isaster a nd shoc ks to succ essful and unsuc c essful cases c ould be

considered.

o There is an issue o f susta inab ility after the projec t g iven tha t so m uc h land is

oc cup ied b y rich a nd influential peop le. Most BHHs are a lrea dy in po ssessionof land a t selec tion. Utta ran is wo rking with lawye rs on this.

2.3 Save the Children UK: Vulnerabilities and Resilience among Extreme Poor

People: South West Coa stal Reg ion Prokriti Nokrek a nd Arafa t A lam

Extrem e p oo r househo lds in the South-west a re c ont inually living w ith and

ove rcoming na tural and ma n-mad e ha zards, inc luding c yc lone Sidr, Aila , tida l

surge s and freq uent flash flood ing. There a re a higher proportion of extreme poo r in

ec ologica lly fragile areas. The shiree -funded SCUK projec t is wo rking in this a rea . In

2010 (po st inte rvent ion) - a t ida l surge hit the area and a ffec ted EP BHH househo lds.

The a im of this resea rch is to e xplore the livelihoo d dynamics of the extrem e p oo r in

the vulnerab le areas. The method olog y inc ludes FGDs, key informant interview s and

in-dep th interviews in two unions Koyra Sadar and Nishanbaria.


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The spec ific questions are:

Imp ac ts of d isaste rs on EP live lihood s;

Strateg ies ad op ted by EP to cop e with d isasters;

Strateg ies ad op ted to ma ke livelihood s more susta inab le in the fac e o f futuredisasters.

The impac ts on p hysic al, human, soc ial, natural and financ ial c ap ita l, and the

different responses of households, communities and NGOs and other actors, and

resilienc e strateg ies of ho useholds in response were sha red. The financ ial costs to

assets we re calculate d and c rab fattening b usiness and fish c ulture w ere the most

affec ted ones (all wa shed aw ay). Households had insuffic ient c ap ita l to resta rt their

businesses (veg eta ble and w hite fish culture). The resea rc h conc ludes tha t

livelihood options, which are not dependant on seasonal dynamics are more

resilient than o thers, due to the ir na ture (ring slab and instruments) (see for d eta ils).

Also, FHHs are getting less and irregular cash/profit from poultry, duck and goat

rearing. More diversified IGAs and more women-specific interventions for the year

round are needed .


o Findings po int to the imp ortanc e of a dd itional interventions.

o Question of feasibility of a permanent response? Whose responsibility?

Government, NGOs?

o Importance of health-related shocks included water-borne and skin-related

d isea ses. Househo lds have loaned money to cover suc h costs.

Wider policy lessons:

o Provision of appropriately

designed transitional shelters,

which could meet minimum

standards and resistant to

c yclone a nd tida l surge.o Stop ma king holes within the

embankment.

o Safe drinking wa ter for coa sta l

people (by installing water

treatment and desalination

plant).

o Education provision for children

of EP households.


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Prog ramm atica lly, SCUK has a refe rra l schem e to help p eo ple w ith

med ic ation and op erations.

o We need to reflect on which IGAs are most appropriate for EP HHs. Is asking

for mo re d iversific ation p otentia lly mo re risky? SCUK is using Household Mic ro-

Plans to decide based on their local conditions, finding that situations are

different from o ne up azila to ano ther depe nding o n vulnerab ilities.

o Need to consider the time frames of how long it takes for HHs to re-build

livelihood s ba ck to wha t they we re.

o Issue of traumatisation and psychological impacts. Where is there need and is

there a p rog ram me respo nse?

o Children were very affected in the last tidal surge. Most schools closed or

children need ed b oa ts to go to school. The Depa rtme nt of soc ial we lfare istrac king c hild ren who a re left a lone a fte r d isasters.

o Because many other projects are working there, effective linking with other

NGOS and g ove rnme nt is c ruc ial.

2.4 DSK: Evic tion a nd the Cha lleng es of Protec ting Gains: A c ase study of slum

dw ellers in Dhaka c ity - Ab d ul Baten a nd M ustak Ahmed

Evic tion has be en identified as a ma jor cha lleng e fa c ing the DSK Dhaka project .

E.g. 119 targe ted extreme p oo r househo lds we re ev icted from Korail and Sot to la

slum, lead ing field sta ff to re-selec t househo lds. Evict ions are often unexpec ted and

have far rea c hing imp licat ions, pote ntially threa tening to the de velopm ent initiatives

and ga ins enc ourage d b y the projec t. This resea rc h projec t aimed to explore the

impact (causes and consequences) of evictions for slum dwellers livelihoods, and in

pa rticular to:

o To und ersta nd the d ynamics of evict ions;

o To assess the immediate losses and long term c onseq uenc es of ev ictions;

o

To explore the c op ing strate gies of ev icte es;

o To conside r alternative p olic y related rec om menda tions.

It has applied mixed methods including case studies, in-depth-interviews and key

informant interviews with BHHs who have returned to the programme; BHHs who

have not returned to the programme; non-BHH tenants; Non-beneficiaries


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households who a re involved in simila r IGAs promoted by DSK-shiree ; house o wners;

community leaders and service providers.

Ma jor arguments:

y Evict ion ha s disrup ted livelihood op tions;

y Re-settlement has been un-certain;

y Gains have been lost.

Imme diate losses to slum d wellers inc lude : houses/shelters; household assets; shops;

destroyed latrines and wa ter supp ly systems; ga s and elec tric ity supp ly system s; theft

of assets; harassment from law enforcement agencies.

Estima ted financ ial losses: Extreme poo r households (12,000-20,000); Poo r households

(10,000-80,-000); Shop owners (12,000-150,000); House owners (200,000-500,000).

Losses to servic e provide rs: DSK wa tsan p rojec t; DSK shiree projec t; UPPR; BRAC

health and delivery centre; RIC.

Conseq uenc es: chang es of o wnership/ pa tterns of land ; savings and loa ns money is

used towa rds immed iate losses; sa laries cut/ job losses; businesses closed (loss of

income); outstanding sales on credit; shifting and re-shifting costs; cost of re-

construction of houses; loss of social connections; internal conflicts; internal and

external litigations.

Coping strategies: living in tents and temporary accommodation; most facing thecontinued threat of eviction; borrowing to re-build houses; financial support taken

from families and em ploye rs.

Threa ts of further evict ion: DoH c onstruc ted a bo unda ry wa ll around evicte d areas

and cond uc ted a land survey; Lette rs of eviction a lrea dy sent to c om munity lea de rs

(but not HHs).

Immediate needs: shelter and safe security; rebuilding of sewage system; financial

support to re-establish.

Rec omm enda tions:

y Evic tions and

rehabilitation;

y Imm ed iate livelihood s

support for evic tee s;

y Streng the n slum-based

organisations.


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o How possible is an organised migration system? Can certain zones of Dhaka

be deve lope d to serve others? Slums a result of push-pull effec t.

o Owners do not share information about the threat of eviction because

tenants would leave.

o What a re the sugg estions for planne d e vict ion? Two types gove rnme nt

owned land and priva te ne go tiations with com pe nsation g iven. This kind of

neg ot iation is possible a lthoug h it is still hard to ensure p rop er rehab ilitation.

2.5 NETZ: Extreme p oo r ad ivasis and the p roblem of acc essing safety nets

Zakir Hossa in

Ac cess to sa fet y-net sup port is ma rginal to BHHs und er the AM ADER projec t. This

research has investigated the problems that adivasis face in accessing safety nets

and the underlying factors for this exclusion. Adivasis constitute more than 70

percent o f b enefic iaries in AMADER projec t. 2.63% of HHs ha ve access to SSNs (NETZ

baseline survey). SSNs reduc e the risk of a sset loss espec ially in lea n seasons (see

trac king stud ies). Based on c ase stud ies, FGDs and key info rmant interviews in tw o

unions in Sapahar with rec ipients and non-rec ipients of sa fety nets, find ings of this

resea rch so fa r include :

Fac to rs in suc cessful acc ess to SSNs: Strong er links with a ffluent (a d ivasi and non

adivasi) neighbours, connected well with formal political structure; But access toSSNs is seen a s a new form o f p a tron-client relationship; d irec t c onnec tion w ith Ward

Comm issioner of selec tion c om mittee; market access - those rec eiving SSNs are

usually we ll connec ted w ith loc al ma rket operato rs. Therefore, they have mo re

information.

Utiliza tion o f SSNs contributes to livelihood suc cess during the lea n period : Mone y

lending decreased; employment increased; food consumption smoothed; savings

increased (although advance selling of labour is still happening).

Non-recipient reasons for low access: Information gaps (public announcements are

made either in the mosques or bazaars so many adivasis do not hear); partisaninformation circulation; and selection meetings locations - non-adivasi paras.

Know ledg e o f SSNs is low a nd t here are d istinct po litica l cha lleng es (weak po litica l

participation of EP adivasis) and experiences of cultural labeling (e.g. Muslims

preferred; adivasis seen as drunk; more common for adivasi women to work hence

seen as not needing support).


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O Ashra i (NETZ partner NGO ) is raising these issues in group meet ings and trying

to e nc ourag e a nd em po we r BHHS to visit unions so this bec om es a hab it.

O Ac c ess to SSNs is an issue ac ross shiree , but is ma de more d ifficult from being

ad ivasi (by the d isc rimination experienc ed ). We need to recog nise horizonta l

and vertical inequalities.

O Room to explore advo c ac y with loc al and na tional MPs. This c ould be

presented to the APPG.

O Question of imp roving the ta rge ting of go vernment.

O Issue o f ag e recording .

O No SSNs in urban a reas.

2.6 Practical Action Bangladesh (PAB): Politics of accessing and retaining

ac c ess to the sand ba rs by the extreme p oor Areef Kha n a nd Imra n Reza

This stud y aime d to d oc ument the p roc ess of successfully neg ot iating a ccess to

sandbars for group s of extrem e po or pe op le for agric ultural use. Since p rojec t year

1, pumpkin production has proved profitable, and in response, in year 2 local land

owners have become more interested and have started demanding a profit in

return for access to sand ba rs during the sec ond yea r neg otiation proc ess. How c an

longer term access be ensured and potential losses avoided? Based on FGDs, KIIs

and case studies with a variety of stakeholders, the findings map the access process

Reflec tions for solutions:

o Survey to know the exac t numbe r of a d iva sis;

o Need s assessme nts befo re d istribution of alloca tion;

o Inc lusion of ad ivasis in Selec tion Com mittees;

o Non-pa rtisan selec tion c ommittee;

o Selec tion valida tion by com munity.


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in the first and second year (in presentation) and quantifies the change in contract

arrangem ents. Som e o the r ob servat ions include:

Som e land ow ners are reluctant to give their land and as a result EP me mb ers

are need ing to c ultivate in more d istant/ remote loc at ions or have divide d the

p its in different p arts of the sandbars.

This is resulting in more c om plex irriga tion and c rop ma nage me nt and h igher

costs.

This is c rea ting conflic t a mong the me mb ers of the sam e group to use the

inputs, particula rly irriga tion pump s.

Beneficiaries have lost significant portions of profits for sharing the pumpkins

with landowners. This is a c ritica l fac to r for future access processes.

The involvem ent o f a large numb er of women household memb ers in

pumpkin cultivation when their male members migrate to other areas has

substantially minimized opportunity costs and not deprived households of

extra incom es from migration.

Rec ommend ations:

o Need to esta b lish an input suppo rt mec hanism fo r EP HHs so tha t the y c an

ea sily acc ess supp ort (both private a nd Government).

o Need to enha nce the ho rizonta l relat ionship as we ll as vertica l relat ionship

as EP househo lds are po litically and soc ially margina lized and insec ure.

o Future access negotiation needs more cohesion, fellow feelings and

c onfide nce am ong EP mem be rs (a c ollec tive identity would enhanc e

their status in the society which is very important to deal and win in the

politic s of a c cess to sandbars).


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Father and son at PAB working site in Rangpur


o Prob lem o f share c rop p ing (not p olitics).

o Gove rnme nt-owned land . When land em erges it should be re-owned but

this p rac tice is ra rely follow ed . Owne rship is not p rop erly rec orded.

o Relevanc e to IC Sunam ga nj and othe r projects fac ing this problem.

o Need to streng then g roup formation for further nego tiation.

o Protecting the gain requires a sustainable agreement (formal or informal) with

land owners which is very unlikely to involve free access (even if the land was

previously barren).

2.7 Care: Soc ial safety nets and the extrem e p oor learning from a

pa rticipa tory pro-poor governanc e a pp roac h - Saifudd in Ahmed and Abd ul

Bari

SETU has deve lope d a multidimensiona l mo del of pa thw ays out o f extreme p ove rty,

ad d ressing the ineq uita ble p ower relations c ausing po verty. It a ims to broade n and

deepen c itizen s influenc e in the dec isions tha t a ffec t the ir lives, see ing this as a right

(and hence an end in itself) and also as a key strategy for graduating people out

of c ond itions of extreme pove rty and c hronic vulnerab ility. This resea rch aims to see

potent ials of p ro-poo r inclusive go vernanc e m od el fac ilitate d by SETU: a) in build ing

relationships be twe en loc al gove rnment and extremely poor c itizens; b) in ta rge ting

of extremely poor in government's safety net programs and other development

proc esses in working unions. The resea rch has explored the changes in extrem ely

poor households access to governments safety net programs over the course of


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SETU interventions in last tw o ye ars, the role o f d ifferent ac to rs, inc luding na tura l

lead ers, UP counc ils and com munities in ac hieving these c hanges. It ha s used FGDs,

KIIs and c ase stud ies in 2 unions of SETUs working area . Find ings inc lude:

Soc ial Safety Net a re an imp ortant strategy fo r ad dressing chronic pove rty and

insec urity, argued b y some to help the p oo r to b uild assets and enha nce incomes

espec ially in hunger p rone area s in the no rth-west.

Evidence of strengthening the citizenship of extreme poor:

9 UPs are using the extreme p oo r lists p repared by Natural Lea ders (NLs) and

Para Unna yan Co mm ittees (PUCs) for set ting the priority in de livering sa fety

nets and soc ial protec tion entitleme nts.

9 Natural Lea ders are rep resent ing the extreme poo r in the UP level dec ision

ma king forums.

9 Natural Lea ders and p rojec t participants help UPs in c ollec ting regula r ta x,

op ening t heir op portunities to wo rk with UP.

9 Projec t p artic ipa nts intend to pa rticipa te in next UP elec tion.

Holes in SSNs:

UP initia tives and b udge ts a re more foc used of enhanc ing ec ono mic be nefits. This is

important b ut to p rote c t livelihood ga ins, respo nde nts highlighte d need to fo cus on;

9Crisis and indebted ness (money lend ers etc .)

9 Health, especially chronic illness.

9 Education.

Resilience and dealing with hunger:

9 Increase of wage allows households to cope with the price hike and reduce

the d ema nd on safety nets.

9 A combination of traditional and contemporary practices is partially

protecting extreme poor from advance labor selling and dependency on

money lenders during hunger.

But:

9 Mig rat ion still exists.

9 Som e househo lds still expe rience hung er a lbeit it for red uc ed period of t ime.


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Afternoon session

3. Emerging Findings from Change Monitoring System and Self-ReviewWorkshops (for Innovation Fund) Jona tha n Perry and Christo phe rMaclay

The CMS 4 (pa rticipa tory group exercises) and 5 (in-dep th interview s) methodo logies

were developed last year for the shiree-funded Innovation Fund NGO projects

(currently 17 partners). They we re d esigned to b e low-cost a nd a llow for a q uick

ident ifica tion of issues and cha lleng es. They feed into quarte rly c hange rep orts

which are then follow ed b y self-review w orkshop s. They highlight shared

expe riences, and flag up issues ac ross Innova tion-Fund NGO projec ts.

4 ma in findings from Novembe r/ Decem be r 2010:

1. Incomes have not yet increased sufficiently to significantly change the

inco me sources of BHHs to g raduate them from extreme po verty. This ra ises

questions of BHH interest a nd the ef fec tiveness of sing le asset interventions.

2. Safety nets a re not being d istributed to BHHs ac ross the po rtfo lio, a lthough

there are promising signs from service providers in some projects. In some

cases, UPs a re withd rawing support.

3. Illness is see n b y BHHs as the mo st significant hindranc e to suc cess with the

project.

4.

Physically incap ab le and d ep end ant p oo r are strugg ling to ma ke the mo st ofprojects.

Other shared experienc es were continued use of informa l loa ns and experienc es of

na tural disaster. There we re howe ver noticea b le imp rovements in nutrition.

Reoccurring themes in March 2011:

Illness: sa fety nets; de pe ndant p oo r.

New Develop ments: More ac counts

of increasing incomes; assetdiversification; consumption of

produce (e.g. c rop s or milk from

cows) is reducing expenditures


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o HHs are vulnerable when they havent yet made an income from IGAs

and when a SSN withd rawn. This is a typ ica l exam ple of a pove rty trap .

o Issue of using the term dependant poor all EP are to some extent

de pend ant. The term c urrent ly refe rs to whe n a HH hea d strugg les with

labour intensive wo rk.

o Is the re a ny evidence o f which HHs are more likely to suffe r from illness?

o FHHs are taking on mo re b urden in manag ing IGAs is this impa c ting their

health?

o Show s nee d for holistic p rog ramm es.

o A BRAC study showed that the EP spend most of their money on health

need s. SCUK have d evelop ed a hea lth guide line and identified a c ute

illness or conditions with c lear guidanc e fo r com munities and wha t c an b e

do ne at loc al gove rnment c entres. The supp ly side is not rea dy or

ac c essible for the d ema nd.

o Issue of food diversity whether this translates to improved nutrition is

anothe r issue.

4. Next round of resea rch ideas all pa rtic ipantsCare: not yet de c ide d; importanc e o f identifying regiona l resilient mode ls.

NETZ:

1) What strategies the elderly and disabled BHHs are taking to survive and compare

this to other group s.

2) Health and hygiene of adivasis related to their vulnerabilities and IGAs what do

they d o to m ana ge their illness and hea lth p rob lems?

DSK: private sector involvement and extreme poor in urban slums.

PAB:

1) Marketable options for pumpkins (and other sandbar crops). Food processing

and storag e.

2) Effec tiveness of mu ltiple versus single inputs.


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Uttaran:

1) Susta inab le livelihood through khas wa ter b od ies - Ca se of fisher folk.

2) A mod el for susta inab le livelihood s for disabled and aged BHHs.

3) Susta inab le livelihoo d throug h khas land - ca n land ow nership really ma ke a

difference?

SCUK:

1. Identifying and exploring the sustainable livelihood options for physically and

menta lly cha llenged peo ple.

2. Migration and imp ac ts on wom en-hea ded households.

Aid Com illa : Market Linkag es and va lue cha ins.

Plan Bangladesh: to d isc uss.

SCUS: Experiences of extreme poverty in adolescence; participatory photography

monitoring.

IC: Sub-groups of EP; What the poo r themselves wa nt.


o Scop e to ma ke resea rch more strateg ic?

o Need for continuity from study to study.

o Scop e to expa nd informa tion on extreme poverty on web site.

o Action needed is to add to these preliminary ideas then come up with a

consolidated list. EPRG participants and other stakeholders can be asked to

prioritise even though the final dec ision on use o f the c ore Sca le Fund

resea rch resource s (p rinc ipa lly the time of the ROs/ RAs) will rest w ith the

employing NGOs.

o There is scop e fo r joint resea rch and for the participat ion of o thers (e.g. other

DFID fund ed EP programme s).

5. Data and ethicsThe da ta a nd e thics po lic y has now be en finalised . Hannah to follow up a NETZ

query.


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6. Colin Risners closing rem arksCo iln Risner (shiree CEO) c onc luded the day with the follow ing points:

o shiree are targeting the bottom 3-4% which shows a great success on behalfof partner-NGOs, while this holds challenges in terms of graduation and

shirees overall mandate to lift a million out of extreme poverty (i.e we are

c learly NOT ad dressing pe op le who are just b elow the po verty line, how ever

this line is defined, therefore to lift them sustainably above the line is a great

cha lleng e). This nee ds to b e fed bac k to DFID.

o The presenta tions ra ised questions about effec tively addressing g end er issues

within projects. Perhaps there is insufficient mainstreaming of gender going

beyond simple consideration of the proportion of female beneficiaries

ac ross the p rog ram me.

o The m ultidimensiona l imp ac ts of d isaste rs is c lea r from the resea rch f inding s

soc ial, politica l and institutiona l imp ac ts that go be yond simple ec onomic loss

(e.g there may actually be an influx of funds in the short-term due to relief

measures but can this be translated into sustainable economic recovery for

families - that m ay have be come frag mented ).

o The EPRG is an evo lving p rojec t. It is strong bu t we need to m ake it more

strategic and focused continue to look at the process. We welcome

continuing feed ba ck via [email protected] .

o

Cong ratulations and we ll done to the resea rch tea m. The p roc ess so fa r hasbe en a b ig cha lleng e involving lots of work, intensive training and w orkshop s.

o The susta inab le g raduation p rob lem o bv iously rem ains it is not som ething

that can b e solved but w ill req uire c ontinuing resea rc h effort and

enhancement o f interventions and new ide as and me asures.

o More raw d ata will hope fully be a vailab le in the w orking pa pe rs so read ers

can do som e of their ow n ana lysis.

o A sustainable deal is not always a cheap deal, also the timing of the

ag reem ent seems c ruc ial e.g. in the c ase o f wo rking with PAB, co uld a de al

have ma de at the b eg inning, be fore land lords rea lised the va lue of the asset,

have be en more be neficial for be neficiaries? (in tha t instance PAB had be tter

market information regarding the potential value of the land once the

pum pkins were p rod uced all can see the va lue).


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o The a bove (PAB examp le) is one of seve ra l area s whe re the timing o f ac tions

see ms c ruc ial to the suc cess of the g raduation mo de l this seq uenc ing issue

could b e m ad e m ore explic it in the p resenta tion of results.

o Need to open up the below the 10% threshold to understand the internal

dynamics within the extreme poo r pop ulation. This is in essenc e the task of the

EPRG.

o Scope to c omb ine q uantitative and qua litative sources and draw o n wide

research tools.

Annex 1: Participants

Participa nt Organisation & Role Contac t

NGO projec t staff

Md . Ab dul Bate n DSK

Co ordinato r Resea rch

01720106797

ba ten@dskba nglad esh.org

Mustak Ahm ed DSK

Researc h Assoc iate

01818498424

[email protected]

Munir Ahm ed Sav e the Children UK

Direc tor of Hunge r and Health

01746252337

[email protected]

Muzaffar Ahm ed Sav e the Children UK

Projec t Direc tor

[email protected]

Prokriti Nokrek Save the Children UK

Resea rch O ffic er

01713203205

[email protected]

Ac tivities in May: writing wo rking pape rs; de signing ne xt Phase 2 resea rc h; trac king

studies.

The next EPRG m ee ting is p lanned for the end of July or ea rly Aug ust 2011.


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Arafat Alam Sav e the Children UK

Monitoring Officer

01716066049

Arafa t@save thec hildren-bd .org

Haseeb Md Irfam ullah PAB

Tea m Lea de r

01817118522

haseeb @prac ticalac tion.org.bd

Imran Reza PAB

Researc h Assoc iate

01818350177

[email protected]

Ab dul Khaleq ue Utta ran

Projec t Direc tor

01716126234

khaleq ue@gm ail.c om

Sonia Kab ee r Utta ran

Resea rch O ffic er

01711436430

kabirfam@yahoo .com

Korba n Ali Utta ran

Resea rch Assista nt

01911037057

[email protected]

Sa ifudd in Ahm ed Ca re 01713200801

Sa ifah01@gm a il.com

Felix Bac hma nn Interc oo pe ration

Delegate

01715 469803

felix.ba c hma nn@intercoo pe ratio-bd.org

Shamin Ahmed Intercoop eration

Programm e Office r

01730073301

sham in.ahm ed @interc oo pe ration.bd .org

Ab dul Bari Researc h Assista nt ,Ca re

Jana Fahrig Volunte er NETZ Bang lad esh

Saya ma Sakha wa t Mo nitoring Office r BOSS

Tareq ul Hoque Plan BGD , Ad visor

Me hrul Islam Direc to r Program Qua lity Ca re

Bangladesh


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Amin Udd in Program Ma nag er HKI

A.Ma jed Ma llan Ad visor Utta ran

KhaleduzzanamShamin

Projec t Manage r MJSKS

Rokeya Beg um Aid Co milla

Papo n Kumar Dev Shushilan

Other donor-funded projects

Stua rt Kenw oo d Cha rs Livelihood Progra mm e

(CLP) IML Director

[email protected]

Nadia Good ma n Urba n Development

Co nsultan t (G IZ)

nad iagood ma n@gm ail.com

shireeand consortium partnersZilfiqur Ali Unna yan Shamm any / BIDS [email protected]

Joe Devine University of Ba th

Nick Ma sc ie-Tay lor University of Ca mb ridge

John Woolner Harew elle Internationa l

Mo njur Hossa in PMTC Bang lad esh

Md Asad ul Islam PD EEP/ shiree

Colin Risne r shiree Chief Executive Officer

(CEO)

01741679361 c [email protected]

Hanna h Ma rsden shiree Researc h Foc al Point

(YP)

01741679360 [email protected]

David Jac kma n shiree Assoc iate Programm es

Ma nag er (YP)

[email protected]

Jona tha n Perry shiree Internal Co nsultan t (YP) [email protected] rg

Christop her Ma c lay shiree Associate Programmes

Ma nag er (YP)

[email protected]

Dela ra Hossa in shiree YP Advocacy and

Communications

[email protected]

Phoe be Bee dell Researc her at the UEA.

EPRG 3 Report May 2011

Documents

Transcript of EPRG 3 Report May 2011