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How do you measure the concept of poverty? BRAC Experiences

How do you measure the concept of poverty? BRAC Experiences. Syed Masud Ahmed MBBS, PhD BRAC Research and Evaluation Division. Discussion topics. Introduction Setting the context: BRAC BRAC’s concept of poverty Measuring the concept of poverty Summing up.

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How do you measure the concept of poverty? BRAC Experiences

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  1. How do you measure the concept of poverty?BRAC Experiences Syed Masud Ahmed MBBS, PhD BRAC Research and Evaluation Division

  2. Discussion topics • Introduction • Setting the context: BRAC • BRAC’s concept of poverty • Measuring the concept of poverty • Summing up

  3. Tubeculosis: Bangladesh Scenario(WHO estimates per 100,000 population, 2004) • Ranks 5th among world’s 22 high-burden disease (WHO) • Incidence of all TB cases: 221 • Incidence of new smear+ve cases: 99 • Prevalence of smear+ve cases: 188 • TB mortality of all cases: 52 • MDR among new cases of TB: 1.4%

  4. BRAC • Indigenous NGO working with the twin objectives of • Alleviation of poverty and • Empowerment of the poor • http://www.brac.net • http://www.bracresearch.org

  5. BRAC”s TB Programme • Community based DOTS programme with CHWs at the nucleus • Partnership with GoB and NGOs • Recipient of GFATM since July 2004 • Coverage: 82 million (2/3rd of the population) • Average case detection rate: 44% (2004) • Treatment success rate for new sputum+ve cases: 89% (2003)

  6. BRAC”s TB Programme • Cost-effectiveness of community health workers in tuberculosis control in Bangladesh.Bull World Health Organ. 2002;80(6):445-50. • Success with the DOTS strategy.Lancet. 1999 Mar 20;353(9157):1003-4.

  7. Relevance of poverty measurement in TB control programme • Poor are more vulnerable • Equity: ‘inverse care law’ • Making DOTS pro-poor • Income-erosion effect of illness • Poverty reducing effect of TB control programme

  8. Power (to fight exploitation) Entitlement to food & “safety net” Institutional mechanism for savings and credit “Minimum” income and employment Access to health care Access to appropriate technology Entitlement to assets (such as land) Access to housing Gender equity Human rights and their enforcement Investible surplus Access to education Institutions of the poor Enabling environment BRAC’s concept of poverty:“Lack of an enabling environment”

  9. Dimensions of poverty measurement • Economic • Lack of income or employment • Non-economic • Lack of entitlement to basic necessities of life Poverty is increasingly seen as a multi-dimensional phenomenon

  10. BRAC’s targeting criteria for identifying the poor households • Households possess ≤50 decimals of land • Sells manual labour for at least 100 days a year for subsistence • Labour-selling HHs represent low SES given their dependence on variable seasonal employment

  11. Self-rated poverty status of HH Respondent’s perception about the state of HH’s annual expenditure in relation to income during the referral period (say, past one year) • Always deficit • Occasional deficit • No deficit a valid indicator of HH stratification in rural Bangladesh, used by poverty researchers

  12. Challenging the MC/MF paradigm • Empirical evidence (from BRAC’s own and other development practitioners) showed that micro-credit programmes failed to reach the ‘poorest of the poor’/’ultra-poor’ for various reasons • Heterogeneity of the poor • Customized programme needed for different sections of the poor

  13. CFPR/TUP (Challenging theFrontiers of Poverty Reduction/Targeting the Ultra-Poor) Programme of BRAC ”To enable ultra-poor attain a level of sustainable development so that they can participate in and benefit from mainstream (including microcredit-based) development interventions” • Grants-based productive asset transfer • Subsistence allowance and skill-training • Health inputs to mitigate income-erosion effect of illnesses

  14. How to target the ultra-poor households ? Based on experiences of working with the poor/review of poverty literature and empirical evidence • Inclusion criteria • Exclusion criteria

  15. Poverty measured as shortfall in fulfillment of basic needs: Basic needs approach • Basic needs • Food • Clothing • Shelter • Health • Education • Social involvement

  16. Basic needs approach: steps • Items representing various dimensions selected • Four items per dimension • All items have three answers • 3 for highest level • 1 for lowest level • Total poverty score range: from 24 to 72 • The higher the score, the poorer the HH

  17. An example: lack of health • How frequently do the HH members on average suffer from illness or ill health? • In case of illness of the HH members, how often an allopathic doctor is contacted? • In case of diarrhoeal illnesses of the HH members, how frequently ORS is administered • How common it s to wash hands with soap after defaecation among the HH members? Scoring: 1=quite frequently/most of the time (more than half); 2=sometimes; 3=once in a while/never

  18. Conclusion: • It’s possible to conceptualize poverty from non-economic dimension • Very simple, easy to use and valid indicators can be developed to measure the concept of poverty • Useful approach for targeting particular poverty group

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