This paper is based on the experience and evolution of a large microfinance provider BRAC—which is working in Bangladesh. The paper stresses that poverty is not homogeneous, but is manifested in different ways and in different contexts. It considers BRAC’s response to this broader understanding of poverty in Bangladesh, referring particularly to the ways in which specific programs were tailored and adapted to embrace new information about client needs and behaviour. The study goes on to discuss impact assessment studies conducted on BRAC’s main poverty alleviation program in rural areas—Rural Development Program—that provided significant data to substantiate BRAC’s positive effect on poverty alleviation, as well as providing information that led to subsequent programmatic shifts in emphasis. The findings of this report indicate that for making a significant change in the lives of the poor, necessary steps should be taken for the strengthening household’s physical asset base and also for providing rural infrastructure.
Author: Halder, Shantana R
Type: Report
Year: 2003
