Different Approaches to Poverty Alleviation
Bangladesh has a rich history of experimentation in rural development model building. In the mid 1960s, the
Comilla Model of cooperative received international fame as an alternative approach for rural development for
the resource poor countries (Aminuzzaman, 1985). However, in the post independent Bangladesh with the
changed socio-economic and political reality, the Comilla model virtually became redundant. Since then given
the high level of poverty and extreme dependence on foreign aid, Bangladesh practically became a veritable
laboratory for rural development and poverty alleviation interventions. As a matter of fact, in the absence of a
comprehensive transparent policy, rural development has become a patchwork of public and private initiatives
and interventions (Willmann, 1990; Siddiqui, 1985; Laxminarayan & Rahman (nd); Jones, 1982; DANIDA,
51988a; Holtsberg, 1992). Wide varietyof intervention packages have been developed by the GOB agencies as well
as the NGOs. These interventions have been mostly financed by the bilateral or multi-lateral donor agencies. All
such interventions can broadly be classified under three different project approaches: i. Direct Capability-Raising
projects; ii. Growth-oriented Projects with a strong immediate impact on poverty, and iii. Targeted Special
Employment Schemes for the poor.
Direct Capability-Raising Projects
These projects addressed poverty indirectly through enforcing higher investment in social sectors, such as health,
education, etc. leading to enhanced human capabilities and improved living standard indicators. These projects,
in effect, did not have any direct impact on employment or income generation.
Growth-oriented Projects with a Strong Immediate Impact on Poverty
The process of economic growth would in most circumstances bring about some reduction in poverty through the
trickle-down mechanism. This particular approach therefore is based on the assumption that poverty can be
addressed through fostering a higher growth process by way of complex interplay of macro-economic policy
instruments suitably attuned to sustain a reasonable growth in certain sectors which will have a `trickle down'
effect and thus increase the income of the rural poor.
Targeted Special Employment Schemes for the Poor
In 1984 the government of Bangladesh developed a new Strategy for Rural Development Projects. The strategy
emphasized the inclusion of Rural Poor Projects (RPP) as a component of all future rural and area development
programs. In line with the strategy, a number of new generation of Area Development Programs were negotiated
and launched, all with a RPP component. Under these Area Development Programs a targeted self-employment
scheme has been implemented with varying degrees of input support such as credit, training and extension
services. These schemes have been designed to promote collective ventures of the landless-poor through
formation of groups and cooperatives. Under these programs assets are transferred to the target groups on a
collective basis, e.g., joint cultivation of land, pisciculture, irrigation, power tiller schemes run by the landless
groups and cooperatives. In almost all cases Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) was assigned to
implement the program.
In addition to these approaches, GOB also took some special programs like Food For Works (FFW), Vulnerable
Groups Feeding etc. to address seasonal rural unemployment and the causes of destitute women.
Food Assisted Development Projects
Food For Works (FFW) program in Bangladesh is sponsored by World Food Program (WFP) and United State
Agency for International Development (USAID)4. CARE - a leading international NGO monitors the program
on behalf of USAID. FFW project has been in operation in Bangladesh continuously since 1975. Food for
Works project consists of rural infrastructure works with its main objectives as: i. to improve the performance of
the agricultural sector, including fisheries and forestry, through the construction and maintenance of necessary
infrastructure for production and marketing of output; ii. to reduce physical and human losses due to floods and
other structural disasters through appropriate protective structures; and iii. to generate productive seasonal
employment for the rural poor.
The implementation of these activities are mainly carried out by five Government ministries namely: Ministry of
Flood Control and Irrigation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Ministry of
Fisheries and Livestock, Ministry of Forestry and Environment, and Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation. Apart
from these line ministries about 40 NGOs are also involved in the implementation of FFW program. The
6resources used for the FFW program are wheat and monetized wheat.
However, the longer-terms developmental impact of FFW was considered to have fallen short of expectations in
terms of infrastructure and creation of assets for the poor. There are still hot debates concerning labor-intensive
public works and the tension between short-term employment creation and the size and distribution of the longer
term income stream (BIDS-IFPRI, 1985). The usefulness of food as a wage good in rural works has also been
questioned. Issues like less satisfactory longer-term impact on income distribution and asset generation and
impact of FFW schemes have therefore become a "serious concern" (Clay, 1986). In recent years, however,
increasing emphasis is being placed on development and hence FFW has been shifting from its original
objectives to include more development objectives. It is now referred to as the Integrated Food For Work
Program (IFFW) and the program is further extended for five year as Integrated Food For Development Program
(IFFD).
During recent years NGOs have been playing a significant role in FFW projects. In the year 1992-93, out of a
total allocation of 520,000 Metric Ton (MT) wheat of FFW projects 26,500 MT have been allocated to the NGOs
(WFP, 1992a). The expansion of NGOs' involvement in FFW program has come about mainly because in
general they have been successful in combining operational flexibility with meaningful beneficiary participation.
NGOs have successfully mobilized human and material resources, raised consciousness of the target groups and
generally avoided conflict with local informal power groups as well as the power structures (Aminuzzaman,
1993).
The GOB in 1975 also launched a program called the Vulnerable Groups Feeding Program (VGF) to provide
relief to the destitute women. World Food Program (WFP) has been assisting the program since its inception in
1975. From the early 1980s the program has been progressively reoriented from relief towards development and
was renamed as Vulnerable Groups Development (VGD). The revised objectives of the VGD is to increase the
self-reliance of the disadvantaged women. To that end, package of development services consisting of savings,
credit, functional education, training in income generating activities and health and nutrition information has
been introduced. However, progress of VGD has been slow and far from satisfactory (Duthi, 1986). Only about
70,000 i.e. 15 percent of the VGD women who participated in the 1990-92 training cycle had access to all
elements of the package (WFP 1992, WPF 1992a).
Local Government and Poverty alleviation
Local Government in any setting of governance is an essential partner of development management. However in
case of Bangladesh, the role of local government in development management has all along been limited. Apart
from some delegated development functions of the national Government like FFW, local bodies are hardly
involved in organization and management development projects. All local government development projects in
general are being designed and funded by the Central Government. More precisely local bodies in Bangladesh
have never been directly involved in organizing poverty oriented programs.
Since independence Bangladesh has witnessed several experiments in local government institution building.
Different models/ approaches like Union Panchayet, Village Multi-purpose Cooperatives, District Governor
scheme, Swanirvar Gram, Own Village Development, Gram Sarkar, Thana Development Committee, District
Development Coordinator, Upgraded Thana, Union etc, have been experimented. Critics have however noted
that most of these models and reform packages were designed in line with the political mobilization process of
the party in power than that of genuine
local government institution building exercise (Blair, 1985, Aminuzzaman,l993a).
Due to such frequent changes and experimentation, the Local Government institutions have suffered and could
not take a permanent and viable shape. There is also a noticeable tendency towards building and expanding an
institution rather hurriedly without going through necessary stages of development and maturation. A UN
sponsored study thus concluded that "the past twenty years have seen a failure to maintain and strengthen local
Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh
7bodies in Bangladesh"(UNDP, 1992).
Most damaging experimentation was the abolition of Upazila system. Empirical findings suggest that by the time
of its abolition, Upazila had become a well rooted machinery of the Local Government institution in the
peripheral Bangladesh. It created conditions whereby local level politics have become relatively more
accountable and representative in character. It also facilitated transmission of civic, social, cultural and political
core from the center to the peripheries (Aminuzzaman; 1995).
Different Institutional Approaches to Poverty Alleviation
This section of the paper presents an overview of different institutional frameworks/ models of poverty alleviation
projects in Bangladesh. The approaches and interventions for rural development and poverty alleviation have
III. Poverty Alleviation Projects (PAPs) of Large NGOs, IV. NGO-Government collaboration model, and V.
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