Research Reports (1999): Economic Studies, Vol - XIV

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10361/12976

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Women in sericulture: a case of BRAC
(BRAC, 1999-08) Halder, Shantana R.
BRAC is a Bangladeshi non-government development organization working with mainly the rural poor women. Its twin objectives are alleviation of poverty and empowerment of women. The sericulture programme of BRAC as part of BRAC's Employment and Income Generation (EIG) programme started in 1978 to i) generate income and employment for, the landless poor women; ii) increase silk production of the ·country; iii) promote afforestation through mulberry plantation; and iv) to utilize fallow land unsuitable for traditional crops for productive purposes. Major components of the programme are: a) Nursery; b) Mulberry plantation; c) Rearing of the silkworms; d) Reeling and e) Weaving. Currently 21,445 BRAC Village Organization (VO) members are involved in different components of the programme. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out by the Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC on 492 programme participants involved in its sericulture programme. The main objective of the study was to measure the efficiency of the programme from the participants' as well as the organizer's point of view. Results show that the programme involved a significant proportion of full time housewives and created for them an employment opportunity. Cost-benefit analysis of different components of the programme shows that all of its partic (pants earned accounting profit from the activities they were involved in. The net · economic gain was also found positive although the amount was negligible. For BRAC the cost of the business development services provided to the programme participants was higher than the amount it received as service charge although there is a declining trend in its service delivery cost per participant. Considering the study findings some suggestions are made for sustainable development of the programme and for generating more income for its programme participants and to reduce the service delivery cost of BRAC.
Women in carp pond cultivation: a case of BRAC
(BRAC, 1999-08) Halder, Shantana R.
This is a case study on 106 female fishermen who made success in increasing their household income with the help of BRAC provided services. Fish cultivation was found to be highly correlated with many factors such as types of soil in the ponds, ownership of ponds, their size and position, farmers' occupation, education, marital status, their skill on fish cultivation and the intensity of labour to be employed in the activities. In majority cases their involvement in the given activity increased household income which helped further expansion of the business, in reducing their dependency on their male income earners, and finally it helped increase household's fish consumption. The cost of BRAC provided services was Tk. 335.75 against Tk. 201.45 charged by BRAC. The net income earned by each member-farmer was 56.6 times higher than those of the additional amount spent by BRAC per member-farmer. To make the programme cost-effective it should involve the marginal farmers and give them training on the use of advanced technology. The exist-ing loan repayment system may be changed. A major amount may be collected at the time of harvesting. It will help reduce the pressure on farmers. Thus, they will be able to spend higher proportion of loan for fish cultivation. Demonstration ponds may be introduced. The number of field staff may be increased for better service delivery and to reduce existing workload. • although soil type does not always matter for mixed fish cultivation, the sandy loam, clay-loam and loam soil are considered to be better suited for it. Carp polyculture is also done in derelict ponds. BRAC leases in derelict ponds from their owners for a maximum period of 10 years, re-excavates them and then, leases it out to its VO members. Lease value per decimal of pond depends on the cost of reexcavation. Money charged for leasing out the ponds is deposited in the VO account of those members who lease in the ponds and use them for the maintenance of ponds. BRAC selects those members for fish cultivation who are very keen to do it, own ponds or can lease them, preferably have previous experiences and willing to participate in BRAC fisheries training session. Farmers and ponds selection are done in February-March. Selected farmers are given training any time during March-May. The preparation of ponds and stocking of fingerlings are done in April-June. Fish is harvested during August-June. In each decimal of pond around 34 fingerlings of different carp species are released consisting of 10-12 silver carp, 4-6 katla, 6-7 rui, 5-7 mrigal, 2 mirror carp and 2-3 grass carp. A member-farmer receives Tk 175-200 as loan per decimal of water body from BRAC which covers all the cost of production including the lease value (RDP Operation Manual, 1995).
Why some VO members do not benefit from RDP intervention: a panel study of ten selected cases
(BRAC, 1999-09) Banu, Dilruba
The Rural Development Programme (RDP) of BRAC provides a comprehensive service to poor women incorporating awareness building, training, savings generation, credit disbursement and income generating activities. The Second Impact Assessment Study of BRAC's RDP revealed that economic condition of a few member households did not improve. Furthermore, their asset holding decreased over three years. This study aimed to identify the factors that inhibited success of those members. The study also highlighted the reasons for their long time involvement in BRAC even though their household economy was declining. The analysis used a combination of 10 case studies and data from sample survey. Life-cycle factors were pronounced in the sample households for their declining situation. In a few cases old age of main income earner was a barrier of their regular earning. Childbearing responsibilities also prevented young members to be involved directly in income generating activities. Economic factors caused downward mobility of the sample households as well. The value of their living houses ranged between Tk 350- 19,600. Nine members lived in their own houses built on their own lands. The other one built house on the land of her brother-in-law. None of the sample members had borrowed housing loan from BRAC. The mean value of the productive assets such as cow, poultry, rickshaw, rickshaw van, etc. was Tk 4,706. - Inconsistent income of the household heads due to involvement in low return activities was a barrier to their economic improvement. Their income was also affected by seasonality. Nine households had more than one income earner, but the second earner was mainly a female. Eight VO members were involved with small economic activities. Level of their income was very low as they could not manage to work on a large scale. None of them used the BRAC loan in their own economic activity and consequently, they lost their control over both loan and profit acquiring from it. Five members received training from BRAC on skill development but they failed to initiate new enterprises at small scale due to lack of entrepreneurship skill. Nine members received loans from BRAC ranging from Tk 2,000- 15,000. Due to family crises improper utilization of loan money caused declining economic condition of some sample households. Some of the members were not happy with the amount of BRAC loan. They mentioned that the amount of BRAC loan was too little to start a new enterprise. Four members joined other NGOs and two of them received loans from them. Crises factors acted as the main impediment to their economic improvement. Over the previous three years, each of the sample households faced some family contingencies, which directly affected the economic condition of their households. Crises mainly included the death or illness of principal income earner of the household and loss of production modes like cow, rickshaw van, power tiller, etc. The households made distress sales of assets to cope with crises. Due to lack of leadership skill, the members were unable to link them with the network of their VOs. Access to loan was the main reason for continuing their membership in BRAC. Most of the members mentioned improvement of their bargaining power within the household as they brought a big amount of cash from BRAC. Members claimed ownership on some small assets like poultry, goat and jewelry bought from their own income. In a few cases they claimed control on these as well. They were able to take part in decision making on some familial aspects and their mobility increased. To some extent their legal and political awareness has been increased. But their social status has not improved significantly. Belonging to same economic stratum, members have similar perceptions of their social environment and they adhere to similar beliefs. Regarding their empowerment it seemed that BRAC could not build awareness and augment motivation effectively among them. Finally, members improved their position in their immediate households through their access to loan, although they could not manage to improve their economic condition considerably. Case study revealed that six members could resist their declining economic condition by increasing ratio of income earner to dependent members and to find out employment with a regular income flow. Three of the sample members had already left BRAC for some unanticipated reasons. Prevention of inactivity and dropout of members required a reduction of their vulnerability during period of their crises.
Reducing dependency on BRAC: case studies on selected BRAC promoted small enterprises and their sustainability
(BRAC, 1999-08) Husain, A M Muazzam; Hossain, Md. Altaf
GO-NGO relations: the BRAC experience
(BRAC, 1998-04) Ahmed, Salehuddin; Rafi, Mohammad
Foreign aid and NGOs in Bangladesh: a way towards sustainability
(BRAC, 1999) Ullah, AKM Ahsan
Case studies on cost-effectiveness of BRAC provided services in selected enterprises
(BRAC, 1999-02) Halder, Shantana R.; Husain, AM Muazzam
This case study was conducted on three types of enterprises that have been promoted by BRAC to examine the viability of the enterprises and the relative cost effectiveness of the services delivered by BRAC. Primary data were collected from 106 carp farmers and 102 broiler rearers while secondary data on 97 tailors were used for the study. The net change in annual income per enterprise due to provision of business development services (BDS) by BRAC was found to be Tic 3,371 and Tk. 5,071 respectively for enterprises with and without pre-BRAC experiences. The average amount for all enterprises was Tk. 7,584 or Tk. 4,569 per member-farmer involved in carp polyculture. The BDS provided by BRAC include skill development training, pond preparation and its maintenance and other technical assistance. The cost of BRAC was Tk. 336 per farmer against Tk. 201 realized for the same as service charge. In case of broiler rearing the average net gain in income per lot covering a period of eight weeks due to BRAC programme intervention was Tk. 2,667. This amount was Tk. 3,237 for newly started member-rearers and Tk. 709 for existing ones. The cost of BDS per member rearer was estimated as Tk. 427 while BRAC received Tk. 452 as service charge. In case of tailoring, since 91% of the sample population were previously housewives without involvement in any income generating activity, the current net income from tailoring has been assumed to have accrued due to BRAC intervention. The average net annual income has been estimated as Tk. 7,836 while the average annual cost of BDS per member was Tk. 490 of which 25% was realized by BRAC from each member as service charge. In all three cases, the results show that the enterprises are cost effective some suggestions are made to further improve the cost-effectiveness of the enterprises.
Case studies of some selected rural enterprise projects in Kishoreganj: a tentative financial analysis
(BRAC, 1999-01) Matin, Rukhsana
This study aimed to assess the viability of eight small scale potential economic enterprises covering the production of sweet toy, rubber shoe, toothpowder, ball pen candle, plastic bag, spice packet and rice mill introduced in 1998 by BRAC's Rural Enterprise Project (REP) from both the organization and members' perspectives, using ratio analysis. The paper reveals that majority of the enterprises discussed have the potential to contribute significantly to higher rural incomes. However all these projects are not homogenous and some are more productive than others. Findings indicate that member involved in the making of candles earn the highest gross profit followed by plastic bag and ball pen. Rice mill, toothpowder and sweet toy have also been found to be quite promising. Comparing the return on investment, with the exception of rubber shoe and spice packets, all projects are more or less viable. Many factors could be held responsible for the losses incurred in the making of rubber shoe and spice packets. For a firm to grow successfully, appropriate techniques of production must be chosen to ensure that these are in accordance with the local factor endowments.
Assailing poverty and patriarchy, how does small money fare?
(BRAC, 1999) Khan, Monirul I.; Chowdhury, Mushtaque; Bhuiya, Abbas; Rana, Masud
This report is based on the findings of the case tracking study of 35 BRAC borrowers from Madab RDP over a period of one year Tracking began in July, 1996, and in all cases more than three months had elapsed before tracking began. The issues examined in this study are: background of the borrowers, use of loan, participation of the women in the use of loan, economic return on investment, borrowing from other sources, mobility of the borrowers or the decision making by the borrowers in their households related to the loan from BRAC. Findings revealed varied importance of credit for the BRAC borrowers. BRAC loans were a substantial support for the poor in terms of emergency funds and capital for multifarious investment. Despite access to loans from BRAC, they still borrowed from the moneylenders under compelling situations. It further found that the dominance of patriarchy was difficult to break because of its deep root in the society. Though observance of purdah varied, it was never absent and as such restricted the movement of women to a great extent. Patriarchal division of labour ensured that women remain confined mostly within household. The study concluded that these deep-rooted cultural factors were responsible for the perpetuation of women's subordination and micro-credit could not change it significantly.
An assessment of the biweekly collection system of RDP
(BRAC, 1999-12) Banu, Dilruba
The present study intended to assess the effects of the biweekly collection system of RDP on both the BRAC staff and the programme participants. Data were derived from eight VOs as well as three AOs selected randomly. Findings indicated that the biweekly collection system saves time of both BRAC staff and VO members for attending VO meetings. Members' attendance in collection meeting increased. Apparently the intensity of members' involvement in income generating activities also increased. The biweekly system reduces the operation cost of the credit programme of BRAC's RDP as it needs less staff for instalment collection. On the contrary, in the new system the size of loan instalment is big and it keeps the members always under pressure for managing money. It increases the tension of the BRAC staff to check the chance of overdue or partial repayment of loans by the VO members every month. Dependency on husband increases for using loans and repaying instalments, as members are prone to greater risk paying a double amount as instalment every two week. The biweekly system focuses more on the households' economy rather than meeting interests of the VO members towards their empowerment. Members accepted the biweekly collection system only as BRAC wanted to initiate it.
A study on membership overlap among different NGOs in selected villages: its impact on micro-credit programmes and rural poor
(BRAC, 1999-12) Chaudhury, Iftekhar A.
For several decades BRAC and many other NGOs have been working with micro credit for alleviating rural poverty. The growth of micro credit has therefore been phenomenal, and so has the number of smaller NGOs working along this line. According to one estimate, Grameen Bank together with other NGOs account for 65 percent of total rural credit disbursement annually, a figure surpassing the combined total of GOs and Banks. The present study looked into the phenomenon of membership overlapping in some villages of Tangail. The study was exploratory in nature and the findings suggest that a majority of the sample borrowers have benefited from multiple borrowings, while others have not been so successful and some even ended up as paupers. Incidence of membership overlapping is high and its prevalence is likely to be found in other parts of the country as well. These have wide ranging implications for the provider of funds. The objective of the study has been to identify the nature and causes of the incidence of membership overlap between different NGOs in selected villages and evaluate its impact on micro-credit programmes and rural poor. The database for the present study came from field level investigations which were conducted in 10 BRAC village organizations (VOs) under three thanas of Tangail. Out of a total of 326 members in the 10 VOs, Focus Group Discussions were held with 115 members. In-depth interviews of 39 multiple members along with nine case studies were taken from this sample. Besides BRAC, these borrowers also have membership in several other NGOs such as Grameen Bank, Proshika, ASA, Society for Social Services (SSS), Social Development Sangshad (SDS), Swanirvar Bangladesh and BURO Tangail. The major findings of the study indicate that: There is a high incidence of membership overlap. Its prevalence has been found to be very widespread in the study area. A majority of the multiple borrowers are landless, illiterate and enjoy relatively good networking privileges. The motivating factor, behind membership overlapping, revolves around the inadequacy of loans obtained from their parent organization to meet one or any combination of the following categories of loans: (i) credit required to carry on and expand agriculture, cottage industry and business (ii) credit needed to meet long standing problems such as house construction or repair or meet social obligations such as marriage, etc. (iii) credit needed to cope crisis such as unemployment, accident, etc. Data show that 69.73 percent of the loan has been utilized by the multiple borrowers for productive uses and 30.27 percent for unproductive uses. The end use of the loan have been traced to housing (5.40 percent), purchase of cow (6.30 percent), marriage (5.19 percent), medical treatment due to sickness/accident (3.20 percent) and paying loan installment of another NGO ( 4.04 percent). Two percent of the loan has been used for relending at an exorbitant rate of interest. The study found repayment performance of the major multiple borrowers to be regular. Out of a total of 326 borrowers, 210 (64.42 percent) have been regular in repaying loan installments, 63 ( 19.33 percent) have been irregular and 53 ( 16.26 percent) defaulted. CJ The study found that most of the multiple borrowers do not approve of overlapping. According to them, there should be no more than one NGO in a village. Borrowers pointed out that NGOs are charging high interest rates that should be lowered. They are also unhappy with BRAC and Grameen Bank, who do not allow members to withdraw savings any time. CJ Out of the total borrowers, 117 (35 .89 percent) thought that they were better-off, 125 (38.34 percent) said their improvements have been moderate and 84 (25.77 percent) suggested that no improvement has occurred in their lives. CJ Multiple borrowers have invested 21.89 percent of the total cumulative loan in building up productive assets and 8.35 percent in unproductive assets. CJ Access to health-care facilities, safe drinking water and sanitation has showed marked improvement. The force of competition has also resulted in bigger NGOs offering attractive and innovative credit and savings schemes. On the other hand, the smaller NGOs are mostly disadvantaged and borrowers have little reliance on them particularly regarding their sustainability. Records of fraudulent practices of several NGOs have also been documented. Though these NGOs did not last for long, it has greatly tarnished the image of the NGOs in the localilty. Multiple loans have rejuvenated, to some extent, trading and marketing activity in the local economy. In some areas they have invigorated certain sectors of the local economy (paddy and rice-making business, mustard oil production and distribution, puffed rice business, manufacture of earthen-pot for curd, among others). With a view to reducing membership overlap, the study recommends the following : • initiating steps to streamline the differences among NGOs regarding loan ceiling, interest rate, borrowers' access to their savings, provisions for contingency loans, allowance for supplementary loans and refinancing options, and initiating discussion meeting among the NGOs to avoid overlapping and to allocate areas of operation • devising and developing an effective mechanism for supervision and monitoring ofborrowers' credit use activities • · proposing to the government to issue registration of new NGOs with proper care so that spurious NGOs do not crop up. A host of interesting issues and concerns have been raised by the study. They mainly relate to the success and sustainability of the lending programmes, the dynamics of default and their overall impact on poverty situation. Time and resource constraints have, however, forced the present study to narrow down many areas of interest related to the inquiry. Future researchers could dig deeper into these areas through follow-up and indepth studies.
A note on the performance of RDP (1996-'98)
(BRAC, 1999-04) Mallick, Debdulal

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