Challenging the frontiers of poverty reduction

THERE is always a group of people who slip through the cracks of every form of poverty alleviation strategy tried and tested until now. Be it the manual labourers living daily from hand to mouth or the women and children who work in our houses in exchange of meagre sums of money, different circumstances always prevent them from participating in the elaborate development panaceas that are implemented. They generally tend to fall into the last quintile of the income distribution and therefore are sucked into a poverty trap and it takes a lot more effort to get them out of abject poverty compared to the run-of-the-mill strategies such as microfinance. In an effort to counter this problem, BRAC implemented a programme that has not been used anywhere in the world before, aptly named Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction: The Specially Targeted Ultra Poor (STUP).

I recently had the opportunity to visit one such phase of the STUP programme in Gangachara, Rangpur and was astounded by the degree of improvements in the overall level of prosperity in the notoriously impoverished area. There were cows, goats and chickens everywhere. This was fascinating especially considering the fact that this was the monga capital of Bangladesh and the livestock to human ratio was the lowest compared to all others.

The STUP programme identifies target groups in an interesting manner. The programme is initially kept a secret when a three member group of officials approach a target village for the first time. A staff draws a rudimentary outline of the village’s important landmarks such as the main roads, ponds, trees, schools etc. on the sand and the villagers are actively encouraged to provide more input as to hone in on more details. Over the next couple of hours, a pretty accurate map is drawn on the sand that includes not only all the landmarks, but also detailed indications of where each villager’s houses lay. The focus of the discussion is then steered towards relative wealth quintiles of each household.

Each of the members of the lowest quintile is then thoroughly interviewed in their homes to ensure their eligibility in the programme. The STUP programme has five criteria of which at least three need to be met to qualify for inclusion:

* Dependent upon female domestic work or begging

* Less than 10 decimals of land

* No male active member in the household

* Children of school going age take paid work

* No productive assets in the household.

After the final selection list has been created, programme organizers (PO) go on to the third phase of the selection process. This entails a thorough process of selecting the type of asset a member would receive such as cows, goats, sheep, chickens or vegetation. The BRAC Staff determines whether the member would be able to properly take care of the cow in terms of whether she will have access to grazing grounds or will have access to enough room and facilities to house the asset. After the selection process has been completed, approximately 18 to 20 members are grouped for their initial training.

Following the initial training period comes the exciting part of the process for the members as this is when they finally receive their assets along with corrugated roofs to house their cows and or goats and a free cage for the birds. A purchasing committee is created by the local BRAC office in each area consisting of the branch manager, an accountant and another who holds expertise in both the local prices and the quality of the assets being purchased. There is a continuous training and support services which is most crucial for success.

As a part of the comprehensive package being provided to the STUP members, regular health services are provided, especially to those who are pregnant. Basic medications are provided free of charge to the members. As part of the hands on training scheme, vaccinations and veterinary care for the livestock are provided free to the STUP members during the two year programme.

Another notable part of the programme that I was extremely impressed with is the Gram Daridro Bimochon Committee (GDBC). What appealed to me the most was the simple ingenuity of the concept. It is essentially a committee consisting of eleven members. The way GDBC works is by creating a socially cumulative pressure on those who may be in a position to help the ultra-poor. One example would be that if a member could not afford to buy bamboos to patch up her broken wall, the GDBC will create social pressure on those with ample resources to provide the bamboos at a discounted price or free if possible. Fund raising also is one of the GDBC’s great advantages.

In Gangachara, the GDBC was able to convince some teachers to provide scholarships to the children of the less-fortunate without having to study with them privately, which was quite a strong tradition in that area. As part of the package, BRAC also provides free legal services to the STUP members.

At the 18th month mark, as the members are getting ready to graduate, as a part of the ongoing training processes, they go through a confidence building course. A more advanced course is again attended by the members just before the 24th month mark. These confidence building courses are designed to instil confidence and self assurance within the members so that when they go out in to the world on their own again, they will be able to hold their own.

Of course even after the programme officially ends, the members still continue to enjoy a number of benefits such as the health programme, education for their children and lastly enjoy the feeling of knowing that there is a safety net for them at the BRAC office in the case of an emergency as the BRAC staff are unofficially on call 24 hours a day.

Aside from the aforementioned, the members now have the option of joining the BRAC Village Organization (VO) where they will be able to reap further benefits from the field staff such as participating microfinance programme; enrolling into the savings scheme and receiving free life insurance.

In a village in Gangachara, an eighteen strong group of women belonging to a BRAC-VO were already sitting down in the predetermined space, ready with their loan books, activity logs and STUP membership cards. The first in their list of activities are reciting the vows they take every morning that go along the lines of sending their children to school, washing up before eating and washing up after using sanitary latrines, preventing spousal abuse and child marriages. The smiles on their faces are signs of modest prosperity with even better days ahead. The visible disparity between the graduates and those just starting the programme are so stark that it made me smile with optimism thinking that the new group would reach this epitome of achievement and self confidence in just a matter of months if they work with diligence and perseverance.

Less than two years ago, each of these women was suffering from abject poverty with no end in sight to the suffering. Where the next meal will come from was the only question in mind. Khaleda mentioned that at one point before joining the program, she often had to beg for food for herself and her three children as finding work was next to impossible in most instances.

During the selection process, the village members identified her as one of the destitute and she received a cow and two goats. Along with the assets and the STUP membership card, she received a weekly stipend of Tk. 70, 400 gm of rice and 400 gm of lentils and weekly detailed hands-on and classroom training sessions for two years on the practical aspects of taking care of her newly acquired livestock. Within the year of her starting date, her cow had a calf and her goats had a calf, improving her life quite dramatically by providing her with multiple sources of income.

After graduation, she now had enough financial stability to join the BRAC micro finance programme, taking on a loan to further her financial security.