Despite the general consensus that microfinance does not reach the poorest; recent evidence suggests that nearly 15% of microfinance clients in Bangladesh are among the poorest. It is from the realization that even within the existing microfinance membership of BRAC, there is a significant...

Studies of poverty dynamics relying solely on household income-expenditure surveys can yield noisy results, overestimating transient poverty and underestimating persistence of poverty, especially for the poorest. In this study, we make use of an approach that relies on community based change...

This paper looks at the overall performance of the CFPR/TUP programme using the 2002 baseline survey and 2005 repeat survey. All the topics covered in this study could be analysed more deeply, but that is beyond the scope of this paper. Our goal here is to present a descriptive overview of the...

Effective targeting is a hallmark of the BRAC’s CFPR/TUP programme. Like many other targeted programmes, CFPR/TUP combines a number of targeting methods. Launching in 2002, his programme has scaled up in 2005. Despite this scaling up, success in targeting has been maintained. Using...

This study takes a look at the beneficiaries who were selected at the first round in 2002 to explain various dimensions of their engagement with microfinance. With a lower borrower-member ratio and relatively smaller sized credit, microfinance for the poorest may take longer to achieve...

The objectives of this paper are to assess the knowledge retention on IGA training, and to explore the quality of participation in financial and non-financial services by the BDP ultra poor. We found that participants’ engagement in the IGA, their self-interest, training settings and...

The ultra poor are caught in a below-subsistence trap from which it is difficult for them to break free using available resources and mechanisms. Time is not an ally for the ultra poor, as things generally do not get better for them over time. More often than not, ultra poverty tends to be...

This paper evaluates causal impacts of a large-scale agricultural extension program for smallholder women farmers on food security in Uganda through a regression discontinuity design that exploits an arbitrary distance-to-branch threshold for village program eligibility. We find eligible farmers...