BIGD arranged a talk session with Professor Michael Carter, Distinguished Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis on September 6, 2022. He talked about his research based on a five-year RCT in Northern Kenya that explores the psychological dimensions of a graduation model known as Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP), the BOMA Project’s flagship program.
Since 2018, Professor Carter has led the impact evaluation on REAP, which provides training, mentorship and asset grants to small groups of women to start businesses. Communities nominate their poorest, most vulnerable members, who then form small business groups, learn how to draft a business plan, and receive a cash grant to start a small business immediately. The research also assesses if women’s levels of depression have any impact on who would benefit from the program.
The talk was held on Tuesday, 06 September 2022 from 03:00 PM to 4:30 PM at Meeting Room-1 (3rd Floor), BRAC Center Inn, 75, Mohakhali, Dhaka.
The study found that REAP participants who had just completed the 24-month program had, on average, 324% more in business assets, 32% more in total annual household cash income and 509% more in cash savings than non-participants in communities where no REAP programming took place.
