Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice: Lessons from the ENRICH Programme, Bangladesh 3030716678, 9783030716677

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Martin Greeley Asif M. Shahan Shubhasish Barua

Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice Lessons from the ENRICH Programme, Bangladesh

Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice

Martin Greeley • Asif M. Shahan  Shubhasish Barua

Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice Lessons from the ENRICH Programme, Bangladesh

Martin Greeley Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex Brighton, UK

Asif M. Shahan Department of Development Studies University of Dhaka Dhaka, Bangladesh

Shubhasish Barua Department of Development Studies University of Dhaka Dhaka, Bangladesh

ISBN 978-3-030-71667-7    ISBN 978-3-030-71668-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71668-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Towards Sonar Bangla: An Inclusive Prosperous Bangladesh

Foreword

The ENRICH programme was initiated in 2010. It was an overwhelming shift in approach for the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), which was established by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) as a not-for-profit foundation to work for poverty alleviation through employment generation. Until 2010, it was essentially a funding agency for its partner organisations (POs), which are NGOs, for onward micro-lending, although its Articles of Association provides for a package of services including credit, employment, education, health services and livelihoods interventions. The introduction of the ENRICH programme meant that the PKSF came round to embracing its mandated services. This programme was introduced at my behest, following my appointment by GoB as Chairman of the Governing and General Bodies of the PKSF.  Its ultimate focus is on improvement in the living conditions of the targeted poor and disadvantaged people and a life of human dignity for every programme participant deprived in this regard. The dignity focus of a poverty alleviation and development programme is a pre-eminent innovation characterising the ENRICH programme. Human life is worth living when it is dignified. But, what is human dignity? It is argued that a human being is endowed with dignity as an inherent attribute. That is, dignity goes with the status of being a human being. The other side of the coin is how things are in this regard in reality. Scholars distinguish between inherency and living conditions related dignity. Chapter 6 of this book has discussed both these views on human dignity with reference to the perspectives of several leading scholars. I conceived the ENRICH programme as a human-centric, multidimensional, integrated programme for multidimensional poverty eradication and development aimed at extremely poor, poor and non-poor low income people. In this programme, human dignity is adopted as the ultimate goal for all poverty-stricken and disadvantaged programme participants deprived in that regard and is construed as dignity in practice, i.e. the real life dignity status of these people. They suffer from various levels of deprivations with respect to various dimensions of living—asset ownership, capability, employment, income, education, health, opportunities, social

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relations, political participation and so on. The deprivations suffered define how marginalised and constrained their living conditions are. Being hard up, these people cannot socialise or participate in collective socio-­ cultural activities and are looked down upon by the economically and socially well-­ placed. They keep struggling and are usually unable to send their children to school, secure necessary medical treatment when a member of the family falls sick, afford adequate foods and clothing for the members of the family, arrange agreeable housing, install proper sanitation and sewerage facilities, secure adequate access to utilities (such as electricity, clean water, natural gas, and telephone and so on)—all together or in many respects. The basic idea espoused by the ENRICH programme in relation to such cases is to set them free from the constraints faced, thereby enabling them to move forward in terms of improving their living conditions and achieving human dignity. Accordingly, actions are designed to remove the constraints faced by them in terms of such choices that construe horns of a dilemma for them, implying that whatever choice they make it will take them downhill overall. For example, if due to financial inability, a household cannot send its children to school, these children will suffer a similar fate in future as their parents face now. If the children are sent to school by cutting down on its other meagre expenditures, the living conditions of the members of the household will deteriorate further and the household may turn destitute and cannot also continue to support education of the children. The ENRICH programme takes necessary actions to expand the choices available to such households on the one hand and enable them on the other to choose freely the option most beneficial to them. The analysis, presented in this book by labelling situations like the one just described as tragic, following Nussbaum, shows that the ENRICH programme has been efficacious in removing the tragic choice dilemmas addressed, thereby setting the people in question free to choose from the beneficial options made available by the programme and move forward in terms of improved living conditions and achievement of human dignity (see Chaps. 6 and 7 of this book). With approproiate packages of financial and non-financial services at different stages along the way, the ENRICH programme keeps standing by the participants as they move up from being extremely poor to being poor and then beyond poverty on a pathway of socio-economic progress. Whatever the level of a joining participant household—extremely poor, poor, non-poor low income—the initial package of financial and non-financial services for each household is designed in consultation with the household members and repackaged appropriately as the household keeps improving its economic and socio-political conditions. The ENRICH programme design, management style and uniqueness have been analysed in this book (especially in Chap. 8). I would like to call attention to four key aspects. A catchment-focused implementation is adopted for the ENRICH programme and the union (the lowest administrative unit in Bangladesh) is chosen as the planning and implementation unit. The union focus means the ENRICH programme works for total and equitable development of all inhabitants of a selected union. Health and education services can be availed of by all households of the union

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regardless of their socio-economic status while the extremely poor, poor and nonpoor low income households, who together account for over 80% of the total households (about five million people) in the 202 ENRICH unions, are eligible for all financial and non-financial services provided by the ENRICH programme. In addition, infrastructural and other gaps in each ward of the union and union-wide are identified and met to the extent feasible given the ENRICH programme resources and the PKSF mandate. In respect of those that are outside the scope of the ENRICH programme, the relevant agencies are canvassed to act, usually successfully. The ENRICH programme management is a four-way partnership—the PKSF (responsible for designing, overall planning, financing, selection of POs, monitoring), the PO (responsible for implementation, some financial contribution), the programme participants (who undertake various activities in a planned manner) and the Union Parishad or UP (in an advisory role relating to local level planning, implementation and monitoring of the activities). It is a flexible partnership and each partner can and does come up with innovative ideas which are given due consideration. Many had doubts at the beginning as to whether the UPs would facilitate or hamper the implementation of the programme. But, I believe, development is ultimately a political process. Bypassing or ignoring the political process is not therefore the right approach and, moreover, that could mean inviting troubles. In fact, the participation of the UP has been clearly valuable in relation to local acceptability and ownership of the ENRICH programme and local mobilisation for effective actions. A particular innovation in the ENRICH programme is the life-cycle approach— from pregnancy to death. It includes appropriate packages of services for people belonging to different specific age groups—pregnant and lactating mothers, the newborn, adolescents, the youth, adults and the elderly. These have been discussed in this book. I just want to make the point here that life goes through various stages and there are specific needs at different stages. If addressed appropriately at the right times, life’s journey can and should become successful, enriched and dignified. Indeed, the ENRICH programme not only provides necessary services and support to people at different stages of life, but also tries to develop mutual support mechanisms among the age groups to improve societal cohesion and enhance social capital for equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. I have been told by many a participant during my field visits across ENRICH unions over the years that the ENRICH programme is highly acceptable to them as it addresses the multiplicity of their needs simultaneously, giving them immediate benefits and opening up opportunities for the future. This virtuous environment has surely come about because of the programme’s human-centric, multidimensional, integrated approach. This is also an inclusive process given that the development of the whole union is in the focus, which is also equitable given the goal of human dignity for all. Human-centricity implies that everybody is properly included and supported towards the goal of human dignity and the pathway of sustained development. In fact, it incorporates most of those key goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which are particularly relevant for countries like Bangladesh.

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As noted above, this study has found that the ENRICH programme is successful in eliminating tragic choices faced by the participants, enabling them to move forward to improve their living conditions and achieve human dignity. The findings on the impacts of the ENRICH programme also include significant increases in incomes of the households participating in economic activities, significant reduction in dropout and improvement in examination results of the students who attend the ENRICH programme education assistance centres, significant increases in quality food intake and expenditure on clothing, a major improvement in health services as well as notable positive results in respect of other interventions. The participants are moving ahead in terms of multidimensional poverty reduction/elimination and development and achievement of human dignity by those who were previously deprived in this regard. It clearly emerges from the data and analyses presented in this book that the ENRICH programme is unique in relation to its design, management, implementation and outcomes. This the ENRICH programme approach, I strongly feel, can ably complement government’s development efforts, help eradicate multidimensional poverty, assist people deprived of human dignity to achieve that right and help promote sustainable development. And the ENRICH programme  has been found by this study to be cost effective. The PKSF can expand the ENRICH programme coverage as much as availability of resources permit. But, a large-scale expansion would be feasible only if the GoB adopts and implements this approach or a variant of it—a realistic comment that the authors of this book have made. There is a background story relating to the inspiration that prompted me to conceive and guide the development and implementation of the ENRICH programme. It goes back to the late 1940s when I was very young and my father Moulana Md. Mufazzal Hossain was a Member of the Assam Legislative Assembly (MLA). I saw him patiently listening to the ordinary people’s points of view about their problems, needs and expectations and then doing whatever he could to help them. I did not quite understand why he did what he did, but it stuck in my mind and I realised much later that he was a compassionate and empathetic human being and lived a life characterised by altruism as a core value. Eventually, it seemed to me that my instinct for human-­centricity—that has guided and shaped my thoughts, attitude, behaviour, human relations, much of research and writings and actions for a long time—has had its origins in the way my father lived his life. In the context of the ENRICH programme, two important sources of inspiration are the following. The pronouncement of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his 1971 seventh March speech that ‘the struggle this time is for our emancipation’. Later as Head of Government and State of Independent Bangladesh, he explained his conceptualisation of emancipation of people, over and over again, in terms of freedom from hunger, homelessness, unemployment, oppression, exploitation, injustice, absence of opportunities and lack of education and skills. In the short time that was available to him before he was brutally murdered on 15 August 1975, he took many steps towards realising his vision of a society of people emancipated from all forms of ‘unfreedoms’—economic, social, legal and political.

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The second source is the Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh, prepared on the basis of Bangabandhu’s guiding views and ideas. Among other things, the document declared that Independent Bangladesh will be free from exploitations and disparities and every citizen of the country will enjoy all human rights and live a humanly dignified life. Thus, human dignity for all its citizens is a sacred promise made in the country’s Declaration of Independence. Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen’s capability approach to development as a process fostered by enhancing human capabilities through expansion of their real freedoms has also been influential in the context of designing the ENRICH programme. Two of the key drivers of poverty reduction/elimination and development in the ENRICH programme are human capability development and social capital formation. Encouraged by my commitment to human-centric development and inspired by Bangabandhu’s emancipation formula and the values highlighted in the Declaration of Independence of Bangladesh, I set out, soon after joining as Chairman of the PKSF on 15 November 2009, to develop a programme for the PKSF to address simultaneously the multitude of real problems faced by people, focusing on their human agency and envisioning human dignity. After some weeks of serious thinking, I came to a conclusion and broached my idea and made a presentation on the proposed principles, goals, contents and management of the approach to the senior officials of the PKSF on 28 February 2010. They found it a worthwhile proposition and agreed to build on the ideas put forward to develop a proposal for going forward. It was agreed in the presentation meeting that the now Late Mosharraf Hossain Khan, a PKSF Deputy Managing Director at the time, could help in preparing a formal draft proposal on the basis of my presentation. But, he was due to retire the next day. In a regular meeting of the PKSF Governing Body held in the afternoon of that 28 February, his retirement was approved and he was engaged as a consultant to work on the proposal. I recall his contribution thankfully. I christened it ‘one PO-one union’ and that is how it is implemented. However, Hossain came up with a different idea regarding the title of the programme and discussed that with one. We agreed to call it ‘Enhancing of Resources and Increasing Capabilities of the Poor Households Towards Elimination of their Poverty’ or the ENRICH programme for short. The idea of ‘one PO-one union’ has since flourished into what has come to be known as the ENRICH programme. In Bangla, it is called shamriddi—prosperity. As the drafting of the proposal continued, EDs of many POs, a number of rural development experts and PKSF officials at large were consulted in a series of seminars. By mid-April 2010, with regular guidance and support from me, a proposal was ready, which the PKSF Governing Body approved in its meeting on 29 April 2010. Soon we were implementing the ENRICH programme, initially in 21 unions. The programme has been under implementation for about 10 years now. It covers 202 unions across the country. During this period, two successive PKSF ex-­ Managing Directors played important roles and the third and present incumbent is playing his in the implementation of the ENRICH programme by keeping a watchful eye and providing guidance to the ENRICH programme team for taking actions within the framework of policy directions from the PKSF Governing Body—Quazi

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Mesbahuddin Ahmed up to March 2013, Md Abdul Karim from April 2013 to June 2019 and Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah since July 2019. I wish to put on record my thanks to them. The ENRICH programme management team at PKSF is headed by Deputy Managing Director Md Jashim Uddin ever since the programme’s inception, which includes Senior General Manager Mashiar Rahman as the team leader and a dedicated group of other officials (see Annex 1). The hard work that the team members have been putting in, under the committed and dynamic leadership of Jashim Uddin, is thankfully acknowledged and much appreciated. The team have been doing a remarkable job in relation to ensuring the best possible implementation of the programme, looking for and encouraging innovations, and strictly monitoring both the processes and outcomes. Support provided by other staff members of the PKSF, one way or another, is recognised. The Executive Directors and the ENRICH programme staff of the relevant POs, UP chairmen and members and local leaders from various walks of life belonging to ENRICH unions and all the programme participants are recognised for their respective contributions. Government officials at the upazila level are mostly supportive of the programme and deserve appreciation and thanks. A comprehensive evaluation of the ENRICH programme has been carried out under the leadership of Martin Greeley, from which this book has emerged. I wish to thank him and his co-authors Asif Shahan and Shubhasish Barua for their efforts. All others who worked with them in accomplishing the research work successfully also deserve thanks. It is thankfully acknowledged that the GoB, particularly the Ministry of Finance, has supported the programme financially over the years. Especially, I wish to express my gratitude to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the then Finance Minister in her cabinet Abul Maal Abdul Muhith for giving me the opportunity to initiate and guide a comprehensive reformation and reshaping of the PKSF. That was absolutely necessary for the organisation to play its mandated role in poverty alleviation, for which a comprehensive approach is needed. For nation building in Bangladesh in the light of the Ideals of the War of Liberation, what is crucially important is emancipation of the millions upon millions of people suffering from poverty, various constraints and disadvantages. This theme was emphatically articulated by Bangabandhu in his 1971 7th March speech and many other speeches made afterwards, as noted earlier. This call of his for emancipation is now at the heart of the UN adopted global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or the SDG programme that the present Government of Bangladesh led by Sheikh Hasina is implementing in Bangladesh. This is a transformative process with everybody to be equitably included. So is the ENRICH programme which embraces most of the SDGs, particularly those that are particularly relevant for the people like the ENRICH programme participants. Clearly, the ENRICH programme is a comprehensive way forward that should lead to sustainable development wherever it is implemented. There does not appear to be any other comprehensive SDG

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implementation process in place, embracing multidimensionality of poverty and human living. The ENRICH programme is indeed a variegated programme, encompassing multi-­dimensionality of poverty and human life and living, to help the poor and disadvantaged and low income non-poor people shake off the constraints and roadblocks faced, get out of multidimensional poverty or uncomfortable living conditions as the case may be, achieve human dignity as appropriate and move on to a pathway of self-reliant progress. The PKSF reorientation process has also embraced certain specific key thrusts such as eradication of extreme poverty, sustainable rural enterprise development, promotion of organic farming and mechanisation of agriculture, rejuvenation of human and social values and cultural aspects of life and development, and mobilisation of youth for them to contribute to their own and national development effectively. Let me conclude by hoping that this book will be read widely for lessons to be learnt from the unique the ENRICH programme experience. The ENRICH programme or an appropriate variant of it may be profitably implemented in similar situations anywhere. Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Dhaka, Bangladesh

Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad,

Contents

1 Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    1 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    3 2 Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology ������������    5 2.1 Background: The Emergence and Conceptualisation of the ENRICH Programme��������������������������������������������������������������    5 2.2 Scope of the Study����������������������������������������������������������������������������    9 2.3 Research Questions and Specific Objectives of the Study����������������   10 2.4 Research Approach, Methodology and Data Collection������������������   11 2.4.1 Research Approach ��������������������������������������������������������������   11 2.4.2 Quantitative Data Collection������������������������������������������������   12 2.4.3 Qualitative Data Collection��������������������������������������������������   13 2.4.4 Study Areas ��������������������������������������������������������������������������   13 2.5 Sampling, Sampling Process and Sample Size ��������������������������������   14 2.5.1 Sample Distribution for Qualitative Survey��������������������������   14 Reference ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   16 3 Inception and Evolution��������������������������������������������������������������������������   17 3.1 Evolution of the ENRICH Programme ��������������������������������������������   20 3.2 Major Components of the ENRICH Programme ����������������������������   21 3.2.1 Health������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   22 3.2.2 Education������������������������������������������������������������������������������   23 3.2.3 The ENRICH Programme Ward Centre��������������������������������   24 3.2.4 The ENRICH Programme Finance and Special Savings Scheme ������������������������������������������������������   24 3.2.5 Beggar Rehabilitation ����������������������������������������������������������   25 3.2.6 Youth in Development����������������������������������������������������������   26 3.2.7 Supporting Elderly People����������������������������������������������������   27 3.2.8 ENRICHed Home ����������������������������������������������������������������   28 3.2.9 Environment and Climate Change����������������������������������������   29 3.2.10 Community Development ����������������������������������������������������   29

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3.3 Uniqueness of the ENRICH Programme ����������������������������������������   29 3.3.1 Distinctive Features from Procedural Perspective����������������   29 3.3.2 Distinctive Features from Design Perspective����������������������   30 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   32 4 Changes in Socio-economic Status of the ENRICH Programme Participants ������������������������������������������������������������������������   33 4.1 Housing Characteristics��������������������������������������������������������������������   34 4.2 Access to Electricity ������������������������������������������������������������������������   35 4.3 Access to Clean Water����������������������������������������������������������������������   36 4.4 Access to Improved Sanitation Facilities������������������������������������������   36 4.5 Adoption of Family Planning������������������������������������������������������������   37 4.6 Participation in the ENRICH Programme Health Scheme ��������������   38 4.7 Determinants of Participation in the ENRICH Programme Health Scheme����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   39 4.8 Participation in the ENRICH Programme Education Component����������������������������������������������������������������������   40 4.8.1 Rate of Participation ������������������������������������������������������������   40 4.8.2 Determinants of Participation in the ENRICH Programme Education Component ����������������   41 4.8.3 Results Achieved by the Participating Students��������������������   43 4.9 Distribution of Households in Terms of Income������������������������������   44 4.9.1 Food Intake ��������������������������������������������������������������������������   44 4.10 An Analysis of the Costs of Implementing the ENRICH Programme������������������������������������������������������������������   45 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   48 5 The Impact of the ENRICH Programme on the Economic Wellbeing of Participants������������������������������������������������������   49 5.1 Construction of Panel Data ��������������������������������������������������������������   49 5.2 Estimation Method����������������������������������������������������������������������������   51 5.3 Difference-in-Difference Based on Propensity Score Matching ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������   52 5.4 Results����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   52 5.5 Understanding the Causal Link��������������������������������������������������������   56 5.6 The Impact of the ENRICH Programme on Occupational Change ������������������������������������������������������������������   56 6 A Theoretical Framework to Assess the Programme Impact on Dignity������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   61 6.1 Defining and Understanding Dignity������������������������������������������������   61 6.2 Measuring Dignity: The Capabilities Approach ������������������������������   64 6.3 From Central Capabilities to Dignity������������������������������������������������   66 6.4 Dignity, Capabilities and Functioning: Tragic Choice as Basis for Measurement of Dignity������������������������������������������������   68

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6.5 Applying the Framework in Measuring Dignity as Outcome of the ENRICH Programme: Explaining the Framework and Assumptions Related to Dignity in the Context of the ENRICH Programme��������������������������������������   71 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   73 7 Impact on Human Dignity����������������������������������������������������������������������   75 7.1 Health and Tragic Choice������������������������������������������������������������������   76 7.1.1 Tragic Choice Emerging from a Lack of Access to Information and Services���������������������������������   76 7.1.2 Tragic Choice in the Case of Seeking Treatment������������������   77 7.1.3 Treating Chronic Diseases����������������������������������������������������   78 7.2 Education and Tragic Choice������������������������������������������������������������   78 7.3 Enthusiastic Member and Tragic Choice������������������������������������������   79 7.4 Economic Opportunities and Tragic Choice ������������������������������������   79 7.5 Political Space and Tragic Choice����������������������������������������������������   82 7.6 Summarising the Findings Relating to Tragic Choice����������������������   83 8 Explaining the ENRICH Programme Process��������������������������������������   85 8.1 The Usual Frameworks of Implementation of Poverty Reduction and Development Programmes in Bangladesh��������������������������������������������������������������   85 8.1.1 Direct Service Provision by the Government Agencies��������������������������������������������������������������������������������   85 8.1.2 Service Provision by the NGOs��������������������������������������������   86 8.1.3 Limited Joint Service Provision��������������������������������������������   87 8.2 The ENRICH Programme Approach������������������������������������������������   88 8.2.1 Design Level Factors������������������������������������������������������������   88 8.2.2 Management Level Factors ��������������������������������������������������   94 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   98 9 Expansion of the ENRICH Programme Coverage ������������������������������   99 10 In Conclusion��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  103 Annexes ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  105 Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  127

About the Authors

Martin Greeley  Martin Greeley is a fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK, working on poverty and public policy. He is a development economist with nearly 40  years professional experience including 10  years long-term overseas research in South Asia. In Bangladesh, he has led two major DFID-funded research projects on poverty. He was centrally involved in the development of extreme poverty graduation programmes (TUP) with BRAC. He has also worked extensively since 2015 with Fonkoze (Haiti) and PKSF (Bangladesh) on their extreme poverty programmes and has consulted with the World Bank on graduation programme cost effectiveness. Dr Greeley has researched and published extensively on poverty and public policy in Africa and Asia and has worked with the World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, African Development Bank and Asian Development Bank as well as several UN agencies and many bilateral donors. He has recently led an ESRC research project on psychological well-­ being and extreme poverty. Previously, he worked for WFP and the EC-ECHO in Pakistan on the role of food assistance in transition settings and in sustainable livelihood development. He has also led a seven-country study for UNICEF on Real Time Monitoring of the Most Vulnerable. Dr Greeley has worked extensively in fragile states, with a focus on aid effectiveness for which he developed an analytic framework in joint IDS-World Bank research. He has published several papers on microfinance, leading a USD 2.5 million research programme funded by the Ford Foundation on social performance and also worked with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on microfinance, identifying opportunities to incorporate social performance indicators that straddle transition and development objectives. In addition, he has worked on poverty and public policy in several other countries including Tanzania, Afghanistan, Uganda, Palestine and Ethiopia. At IDS, he has held several senior positions including head of graduate programmes, member of governing body and, for the University of Sussex, chair of the Research Degrees Examination Board. He was previously on the board of MISFA (Microfinance apex Afghanistan) advising on impact assessment and is currently on the board of Afghanaid. xix

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About the Authors

Asif M. Shahan  Dr Asif M. Shahan is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka. He has worked on different issues related with administrative system, government performance, accountability, social protection and governance of Bangladesh for more than 10 years. He has provided consultancy services to different agencies of the Government of Bangladesh (including the Prime Minister’s Officer, Cabinet Division, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, PKSF) and international organizations including World Bank, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP, IDS (University of Sussex), Agropolis France, Swisscontact Bangladesh, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, The Asia Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Centers on the Public Service and George Mason University. As part of his assignment, he analysed the institutional capacity of different institutions of accountability (e.g. Election Commission, Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh, Judiciary, Public Service Commission), analysed the overall governance scenario of Bangladesh, assisted in developing activity plans for different government ministries (e.g. activity plan for Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in implementing the National Social Security Strategy), designed policy advocacy plan (e.g. policy advocacy plan for UNFPA), evaluated the performance management system and National Integrity System of Bangladesh, conducted strategic review to understand the current status and future challenges of Bangladesh in the domain of food security and nutrition, evaluated different programmes carried out by different organizations (e.g. ENRICH by PKSF) and explored the policy process in Bangladesh. He is a member of SDG advisory committee convened by the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Bangladesh, and is currently leading a technical team that is working for designing the National Adolescent Strategy in Bangladesh. He has authored a number of book chapters and several journal articles in different peer-reviewed journals Shubhasish Barua  Dr Shubhasish Barua is an assistant professor in the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He also served as a research economist at the Bangladesh Bank and as a senior project economist at the Institute of Microfinance (now known as Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development, InM). He obtained his PhD in economics degree from the University of Warwick, UK, in 2016 and MSC in economics and econometrics degree (with distinction) from the University of Essex, UK, in 2008. Earlier he had obtained BSS and MSS degrees in economics from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. His research interests centre on understanding the strategic responses of economic agents (e.g. firms, households or individuals) to changes in economic environments. His PhD thesis, ‘Essays on Trade, Multi-product Plants, Manufacturing Performance and Labor Market’, explores the impact of intensified import competition from China on the evolution of the manufacturing sector in India. His current research spans broadly in the areas of development economics and international trade from understanding how firms (or factories) in developing countries adjust to rising international competition to how households respond to natural disasters and health shocks in rural areas. He is particularly interested in impact evaluation of

About the Authors

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development interventions using micro level survey data and randomized experiments. He was also involved in designing appropriate financial protection schemes, in particular microinsurance for low-income households and developing institutional mechanisms and regulatory framework for efficient distribution of financial services. Qazi  Kholiquzzaman  Ahmad  Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of PKSF, is an eminent economist and an expert on environment and climate change. He participated in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 and worked in the Planning Cell of the then Government of Bangladesh in exile. He was president of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) for three consequent terms from 2002 to 2010; coordinating lead/lead author at Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the third and fourth assessments, published in 2001 and 2007, respectively; and a member of the executive committee of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under Kyoto Protocol of UNFCCC, 2012–14. He is an avid social worker. The Government of Bangladesh has bestowed upon him the highest national civilian award, ‘The Independence Award’, in 2019 in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the welfare of the people and society, the second highest ‘The Ekushe Padak’ in 2009 for his outstanding contribution to poverty alleviation, and the ‘National Poribesh (Environment) Padak’ in 2019 for his great contribution in the fields of environmental education and awareness building.

Acronyms, Usage and Administrative Levels

Acronyms ACL Asset Creation Loan BDT Bangladesh Taka BSCO Bangladesh Standard Classification of Occupation DC Deputy Commissioner (District- or zila-level chief executive officer appointed by GoB) DD Double Difference Method ED Executive Director ENRICH Enhancing Resources and Increasing Capacities of Poor Households Towards Elimination of Their Poverty FGD Focus Group Discussion GoB Government of Bangladesh HHs Households IGA Income Generating Activity IGAL Income Generating Activities Loan InM Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development KII Key Informant Interviews LIL Livelihood Improvement Loan NGO Nongovernmental Organization PKSF Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation PO Partner Organization of PKSF PSM Propensity Score Matching SDG Sustainable Development Goals UP Union Parishad (Local government institution at the lowest administrative unit in Bangladesh) UNO Upazila Nirbahi Officer (Upazila executive officer appointed by GoB) UDCC Upazila Development Coordination Committee UZP Upazila Parishad [Local government institution at the upazila (subdistrict) level in Bangladesh]

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Acronyms, Usage and Administrative Levels

Usage in This Book ENRICH ENRICH Programme Participant or Participant A person or household receiving support from the ENRICH programme Core Research Team Authors of this book Rural Administrative Levels in Bangladesh Union Lowest administrative unit Upazila Above union and below zila (district) Zila Above upazila (Bangladesh is divided into 64 zilas)

List of Boxes

Box 3.1

The ENRICH Programme: Selection of Unions, and Households and Beginning of Activities.............................................................21

Box 7.1 Box 7.2

Case Study: Beggar Rehabilitation..................................................80 Case Study: The Role of Ward Committee......................................82

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List of Figures

Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3

The idea of capabilities threshold........................................66 Relations among different central capabilities.....................68 Theoretical framework to assess human dignity..................70

Fig. 7.1

The ENRICH programme and elimination of tragic choice.........................................................................83

Fig. 8.1

The ENRICH programme implementation..........................97

Annex Fig. 2.1 The ENRICH programme Basic Set of Components. (Source: Ahmad 2016).........................................................107 Annex Fig. 2.2 The ENRICH programme Core Goals and Indicators. (Source: Ahmad 2016).........................................................108

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List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 2.4

Methodology matrix......................................................................12 Study areas....................................................................................14 Sample distribution for quantitative survey................................... 15 Sample distribution for qualitative survey..................................... 15

Table 3.1

Expansion of the ENIRCH programme .......................................20

Table 4.1 Percentage of households with pucca or semi pucca dwellings............................................................................. 34 Table 4.2 Percentage of households with access to electricity...................... 35 Table 4.3 Percentage of households with access to tubewell water for drinking..........................................................................36 Table 4.4 Distribution of households by availability of toilet facility........... 37 Table 4.5 Adoption of family planning methods..........................................38 Table 4.6 Percentage of households with the ENRICH programme health cards....................................................................................38 Table 4.7 Determinants of participation in the ENRICH programme health scheme...................................................................................40 Table 4.8 Percentage of households participating in the ENRICH programme education component.................................................41 Table 4.9 Determinants of participation in the ENRICH programme education assistance component................................ 42 Table 4.10 Changes in regular school examination results of the students attending the ENRICH programme education assistance centres.......................................................... 43 Table 4.11 Distribution of households by real monthly income..................... 44 Table 4.12 Distribution of households by meal frequency.............................. 45 Table 4.13 Distribution of households by animal protein intake frequency............................................................................ 46 Table 4.14 Cost structure of the ENRICH programme implementation in a representative union, 2018–2019............................................ 47

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List of Tables

Table 5.1 Basic characteristics of the households in panel data...................50 Table 5.2 Real monthly per capita income and food and clothing expenditure (in BDT)...............................................50 Table 5.3 Changes in distribution of occupations of household heads........................................................................ 51 Table 5.4 Fixed effect regression of real monthly income per capita on the ENRICH programme loan.......................................53 Table 5.5 Fixed effect DD regression of real monthly per capita food expenditure on the ENRICH programme loan...................... 54 Table 5.6 Fixed effect regression of real monthly clothing expenditure per capita on the ENRICH programme loan................................. 55 Table 5.7 OLS regression of utilization of the ENRICH programme loan and programme participation........................................................57 Table 5.8 Changes in the distribution of occupations of working age household members................................................................ 58 Table 5.9 Fixed effect regression of proportion of household members engaged in elementary occupations............................... 59 Table 5.10 Fixed effect regression of the proportion of household members engaged in skilled occupations...................................... 59

Chapter 1

Introduction

In recent years, Bangladesh has made significant strides in terms of economic development and also in relation to key social indicators. The real gross domestic product (GDP) grew consistently at over 6% from fiscal 2011 to 2015, at over 7% in the following 3 years and at 8.13% in fiscal 2019. The per capita GDP in US$ rose from 860 in fiscal 2011 to 1827 in 2019. On the basis of the cost of basic needs, poverty has declined from 31.5% in 2010 to 20.5% in 2019 and extreme poverty from 17.6% to 10.5% during the same time period. However, income disparity has increased during this period with the GINI co-efficient rising from 0.458 in 2010 to 0.482 in 2016. On the social front, life expectancy at birth has risen to 72.6 years in 2019 (female: 74.2 years, male 71.1 years). Infant (less than 1 year) and child (less than 5 years) mortality rates, per thousand live births, are down, respectively, from 31 and 41 in 2013 to 21 and 26 in 2019. Maternal mortality rate has also declined from 2.03% to 1.65% during the same time span. (GoB 2020). In terms of numbers, the poor and extremely poor, respectively, still account for 34.0 and 17.4 million as of 2019—although significantly down, respectively, from 46.6 and 26.0 million in 2010. Moreover, millions more are in the low income category. Bangladesh is implementing 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A key tenet of this Agenda is to include everybody equitably. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda calls for all state and non-state actors to contribute to the process from their own vantage points—within a coordinated framework for the best possible results. The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) encourages and facilitates participation of non-state actors to partner with the government to consolidate the significant achievements so far and accelerate the process of sustainable development. The Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) is a government established not-­ for-­profit Foundation mandated to implement action programmes to help reduce and eliminate poverty and promote human development—this is a succinct statement drawing on its Articles of Association. But, the PKSF started its journey using microcredit as the only tool to address its mandated goals. Comments on this © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 M. Greeley et al., Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71668-4_1

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1 Introduction

approach will be made concerning its contextual relevance and value at an appropriate place in this book. It may be mentioned here that the PKSF implements its programmes at the field level through its carefully selected partner organisations (POs), which are NGOs. However, in 2010, at the behest of the PKSF Chairman Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, the PKSF adopted a new broad-based human-centric integrated approach to poverty reduction/elimination and human development, with the ultimate goal being human dignity of all, particularly the marginalised. This is in consonance with the broader mandate of the PKSF outlined in its Articles of Association and in response to the realities on the ground, as indicated by Ahmad. The ‘Enhancing Resources and Increasing Capabilities of the Poor Households Towards Elimination of their Poverty (ENRICH) is being implemented in 202 unions (the lowest administrative unit) across the country with a combined population of about six million, of whom about five million are eligible to all the ENRICH programme services. All six million can access health and education services. (See Table 3.1 of this book). Before the present study, two other evaluations of the ENRICH programme (the ENRICH programme) were conducted early on as the programme was evolving in the field. The field work for the first study covering several ENRICH unions was carried out in late 2014, just about 3 years following the introduction of the programme. The main purpose of this study, as conceived, was to get an understanding as to how the programme was evolving and whether it could be justifiably expanded to cover more unions. The study findings supported its expansion. Among other comments and recommendations, it noted: “Although still very early, the programme has already evolved in fundamental ways that were hardly foreseen at the stage of its formulation.” (Osmani et al. 2015a, b). The second study, for which field work was conducted in late 2015 to early 2016, covered two ENRICH unions and control areas and found positive impacts emerging in respects of different key components and reached the following overall conclusion: “In brief, the ENRICH programme has contributed to social and community development. Its participants feel more respected than before. They are more dignified than before.” The study suggested that the programme be deepened with higher intensity of economic interventions, particularly for sustainable poverty reduction. (Khalily et al. 2016). The purpose of the present study is a comprehensive evaluation of the ENRICH programme in relation to its design, management, implementation and outcomes. The quantitative field research (household survey) was conducted during October– December 2018. The FDGs and other components of qualitative research in both the ENRICH programme and control unions were conducted during this period. The core research team (the authors of this book) undertook six field trips to the study areas spread over July 2018 to February 2019. In addition to inspecting various the ENRICH programme components, they conducted extensive interviews with programme participants, some of the officials and other functionaries of the POs implementing the ENRICH programme, Union Parishad (UP) Chairmen and Members, Upazila Parishad (UZP) Chairmen, upazila level government officials, members of the ENRICH programme ward committees and other key informants. Also, they

References

3

interviewed PKSF Chairman (several times), the Managing Director, and the Deputy Managing Director and other officials concerned (the PKSF officials constituting the ENRICH programme management team at PKSF are listed in Annex 1). Relevant publications and website of the PKSF have been consulted. This book has grown out of this research. It is divided into 10 chapters. Chapter 2 provides background information relating to the ENRICH programme, scope of this study, objectives of the study, and research methodology. Chapter 3 contains a brief overview of evolution of the ENRICH programme. Chapter 4 explains the positive changes that have taken place in the lives of the programme participants by analysing both qualitative and quantitative data. In analysing the quantitative data, efforts have been made to measure the changes in the living conditions of the programme participants by comparing the survey data with baseline data. Qualitative data have mostly been used to validate and complement quantitative data. Chapter 5, using a ‘difference-in-­difference’ approach, explains how the living conditions of specific programme participants have improved over time and how the ENRICH programme has created more choices for them, thereby enabling them to exercise programme ‘freedom of choice’. Chapter 6 discusses in detail the theoretical framework that has been used to explain how one can understand and measure changes in human dignity as a result of different interventions. Chapter 7 brings together the findings reported in previous chapters and, based on the theoretical framework developed in Chap. 6, explains how the ENRICH programme has successfully eliminated tragic choices faced by the programme participants, leading to their human dignity. Chapter 8 looks at the process through which the ENRICH programme is being implemented and explains how this process has brought about positive outcomes of the ENRICH programme. Chapter 9 outlines possible expansion of the ENRICH programme coverage. Finally, Chap. 10 contains concluding remarks.

References Government of Bangladesh (GoB). (2020). Economic review 2020 (Bangla Version). Dhaka. Khalily, M. A. B., et al. (2016). Impact of ENRICH program at the household level, Final Report (unpublished), Dhaka: InM. Osmani, S. R., et al. (2015a). Poverty and vulnerability in rural Bangladesh. Dhaka: Institute of Microfinance/The University Press Limited (UPL). Osmani, S. R., et al. (2015b). Mid-term evaluation of the effectiveness of ENRICH program at the household level of 21 Unions of Bangladesh, Final Report (unpublished). Dhaka: InM.

Chapter 2

Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

2.1  Background: The Emergence and Conceptualisation of the ENRICH Programme Over the years, conceptualisation, characterisation and discourses on poverty and development have undergone significant changes. In the past, economic improvement was considered the key goal and focus of development. Poverty reduction/ alleviation was to be pursued within that framework, implying a trickle-down process, which has been of rather limited avail. The world is still left with significant poverty, and inequality is glaring and increasing globally and in most countries. The introduction of the concept of sustainable development has brought in new features to the understanding of development. Much emphasis is now found in economic literature that economic growth and per capita income are not necessarily the key goals to be achieved. Achievements in these regards should be considered as means to the ultimate goal of improvement in people’s living conditions and human development. This essentially means that, “…an individual in poverty cannot have dignity in a society… an individual with some economic improvement because of one or some economic or financial interventions will not have dignity unless she has access to right-based institutions like health, education…,” (InM 2016). From this perspective, efforts undertaken to reduce and alleviate poverty should also aim at enabling the individuals to live a life that is dignified and creates opportunities for them to exercise freedom in determining their choices. It is argued that this particular understanding related to poverty reduction/elimination and economic development strategies, coupled with interventions that ensure access to human rights should help expand freedom of choice leading to a dignified life. This holistic approach has shaped the contents and implementation architecture of the ENRICH programme that the PKSF has been implementing since 2010. This is a human-centric, multidimensional and integrated poverty elimination and development paradigm that © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 M. Greeley et al., Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71668-4_2

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2  Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

invokes human dignity as the overriding goal and human capability as the basic driver. It is important to note that this new philosophy of designing interventions is a completely new domain for the PKSF to embrace. The PKSF, in fact, flourished as an apex body for providing funds to POs to extend microcredit to the poor and also non-poor low-income people. However, in the Articles of Association of the PKSF, disbursement of microcredit is not mentioned as one of its functions. Credit is included in the package of services to be extended by the PKSF as one of its mandates. This means credit supplied by the PKSF need not be microcredit only. It can be larger also. The other functions of the PKSF, as contained in its Articles of Association, include education, skill training, primary health care, livelihood improvement, capacity enhancement, and poverty alleviation through employment generation. The POs, which implement the PKSF programmes on the ground, are always very carefully selected on the basis of a set of criteria. Most of the large or very large current POs were initially small struggling organisations. One of the signal roles the PKSF has performed has been to assist, nurse and support these POs and, as a result, these NGOs have grown to their present status. However, the vision and mission of the PKSF have now been reconstructed, starting from 2010, in tune with its mandates laid down in its Articles of Association. Thus, while it started its “…journey as a provider of funds to its partner organizations (POs) for onward micro-lending to their members on conventional terms”, now it works to “contribute towards creating a poverty-free Bangladesh, with each and every citizen in the country living a humanly dignified life, and its mission is to support all economic and social action programmes through various financial and non-financial and natural disaster management related services as are relevant to the circumstances of the heterogeneous groups of the poor and low income people for them to come out of poverty and disadvantaged situation and move ahead beyond poverty so that they are on a sustainable pathway as securely as possible” (PKSF 2014). It may be noted that from early 2000s, the PKSF initiated some diversification of its activities in terms of, for example, social actions (education and health services) and promoting micro enterprises on a limited scale. But, it essentially remained a funding agency for microcredit up to 2009. The manner in which the PKSF now provides its financial and non-financial services to its programme participants upholds human centricity and aims at human dignity for all. This total reorientation of the approach and functioning of the PKSF, that started in 2010 as the ENRICH programme was launched, has been accomplished at the initiative and leadership of its current Chairman Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, who took over as PKSF Chairman in November 2009. Microsized credits are still provided to the extremely poor who cannot effectively use larger amounts of credit. Thus, they are given Taka ten or twenty thousand as the first loan. But, this is actually appropriate credit for such a poor household. Usually, they quickly improve their economic conditions as the credit is provided along with skill training, support to access appropriate technology, market information and marketing assistance. This is so not only within the framework of the

2.1 Background: The Emergence and Conceptualisation of the ENRICH Programme

7

ENEICH programme but also in other programmes of the PKSF. As people improve their economic conditions, they seek and are provided with larger amounts of credit. For micro enterprise, credit up to one million Taka (about US$12,000) is provided. The PKSF now, in general, provides appropriate credit, meaning that an amount is provided consistent with the purpose at hand and ability of the borrower to use the amount properly. Since the PKSF provides the required amounts of money for the purpose at hand, taking (micro) credit from different sources by the households, falling into financial crisis, is now almost non-existent among PKSF programme participants. This was a major issue before. In fact, the PKSF is no longer just a credit providing institution. It is truly a multidimensional development organisation. It supports, the PKSF Chairman Ahmad says “….integrated approaches to development through financial and a host of non-­ financial services. In contrast to its past focus, PKSF now acknowledges the multi-­ dimensionality of poverty.” He continues: “…poverty alleviation should be sustainable and the present poor should move out of poverty and achieve freedom and dignity.” Furthermore, he argues, development and freedom have political dimensions and, therefore, sustainable poverty alleviation approach requires an integrated approach with simultaneous access to finance, health, education, service institutions, infrastructures and political support. The Chairman explains that these considerations are at the heart of the ENRICH programme. In fact, the ENRICH programme has been developed at the initiative, conceptualisation, elaboration of underlying ideas and ways forward and identification of the first set of key components by Ahmad. It is a new, different, and innovative programme being implemented by the PKSF with support from its POs. But, it has evolved and expanded over time, says Ahmad, contributed by the PKSF and PO officials as well as suggestions from other actors on board and programme participants one way or another. This has been possible because the programme has been conceived as a flexible one and all concerned are encouraged to contribute by sharing their ideas and experiences. The ENRICH programme focuses on individuals, families and communities. That is, it addresses the needs and purposes of real people, and does not consider them as numbers and percentages. The focus is on human dignity and freedom of all the participants in the ENRICH programme, who are deprived in these regards. Broadly, its goals include human capability development, freedom of choice, access to assets, enhanced sustainable income, and an enhanced social and physical environment, with reference to which the detailed work programmes have been developed. It is implemented by a partnership involving the PKSF that develops work programmes and implementation guidelines, provides finances, trains PO functionaries and strictly monitors activities being implemented; the POs which implement the ENRICH programme activities on the ground; the programme participants who carry out tasks they agree while taking financial and non-financial services from the POs; and the Union Parishad (UP) that provides advice and support. In fact, the UP is a major beneficiary as the people of the union benefit, ensuring whose welfare is the responsibility of the UP.

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2  Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

The strategic objectives of the ENRICH programme are to ensure: (i) total development of each household and of the whole community participating in the ENRICH programme; (ii) freedom and human dignity for all the members of all the households participating in the ENRICH programme while lacking in these regards; (iii) empowerment of the poor households to achieve the goals of sustainable poverty alleviation, human freedom and dignity; and (iv) access of all programme participants to all capacity enhancing activities. How can all these strategic objectives be attained? Some of the key actions and implementation guidelines that the ENRICH programme warrants, based on its design and purposes outlined in Figs.  1 and 2  in Annex 2 and certain aspects outlined above, are as follows. • Assessment of initial (prior to introduction of the ENRICH programme in a union) conditions at both household and community levels as well as union-wide through a census of all households in the union and an assessment of overall socio-­economic, infrastructural and environmental conditions of the union. This is essential for the identification of the households that would be entitled to support under all components (education and health services are available to all households in the unions); development of support package for specific households; and, community and union-wide activities. The inital assessment also allows  the establishment of baselines for measuring progress as the ENRICH programme is implemented. • Focus on individual human being, aiming at human dignity for those bereft of this attribute. • Preparation of household development plans for each of the households through consultation with the household members. • A life-cycle approach is a hallmark of the ENRICH programme. It provides health and related services to pregnant and lactating mothers and advice on nutrition and health of the new-born as appropriate and has schemes for the adolescents to help them stay focused on their socially positive personality development, a youth in development component to imbibe them with human and social values and train them in skills in their chosen fields for employment or to become entrepreneurs, various kinds of socio-economic development actions, and a scheme for the elderly to help them live with dignity. • A multidimensional approach to sustained advancement of the participating households, that includes such services and support as access to capability development assistance through healthcare, education and skill training; credit for economic activities, asset acquirement, improvement in living conditions, encouragement to save, support for responding to environmental degradation and climate change; assistance to access appropriate technologies and market information; marketing support; and so on, as appropriate. • Supply of credit is need-based and the scale of credit is appropriate to the need for the planned action to promote sustained progress of the households.

2.2 Scope of the Study

9

• An integrated approach to addressing the multidimensional needs. One PO for one union strategy has been adopted for better coordination of household and community level multi-faceted activities. • Social capital formation for participatory actions at household, community and union levels. Also, promotion of coordination among government and non-­ governmental institutions providing various services within the union, as appropriate and mutually worthwhile, for the benefit of the local people. Given limitation of resources, such coordination enhances outcomes from the available resources. • The ENRICH programme encourages and facilitates the best possible utilisation of resources in a planned manner. For example, to turn a homestead into an ‘ENRICHed home’ by using the available land for various purposes including house(s), various kinds of trees, vegetables, livestock, poultry, flowers and so on by carefully planning allocation of land to various purposes. Keeping the homestead clean is important. The ENRICH programme provides assistance, as required. It does not require much money. What it requires is willingness and committed efforts. The ENRICHed homes are not only good sights but also generate incomes through sale of various commodities produced in excess of own requirements. • Further details regarding the concept and functioning of the ENRICH programme can be seen from the above mentioned two figures in Annex 2, developed to exemplify what the ENRICH programme does and the causation processes. • To review progress of the households and make adjustments in support services in accordance with the requirements of the households at different stages of progress.

2.2  Scope of the Study The main objective of the study is to conduct an overall evaluation of the ENRICH programme and make an effort to understand how different components of the programme are jointly influencing the living conditions of the programme participants, enabling them to live lives that are dignified. Although this research would try to understand how the different components are separately influencing the lives of the programme participants, its overall objective is in fact broader in nature. In effect, this study makes an overall assessment to determine how and why participation in the ENRICH programme is or is not enabling participants to live their lives with dignity. From this perspective, it not only tries to understand the impact of the ENRICH programme on poverty but also focuses on whether or not the intended poverty reduction/elimination and economic development are happening and, if yes, how is that impacting on the relevant people’s dignity (at the levels of individuals, families and communities), how participation is offering them different choices in making decisions regarding their living conditions and whether or not their limited choices are being transformed into ‘freedom of choice‘by influencing their state

10

2  Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

of ‘unfreedom-ness’. Therefore, even though the study is evaluative in nature, it is different than usual evaluation due to the following reasons. • First, it attempts to develop a theoretical framework to explore how positive impact on human dignity can be assessed. In doing so, this study relies on Naussbaum’s capabilities framework and, based on that, makes the argument that elimination of tragic choice that an individual is faced with can lead to a dignified life for them. • Second, it also tries to explore whether or not the different interventions carried out under the ENRICH programme can jointly contribute to eliminating the tragic choice, thereby enabling an individual to get rid of the ‘unfreedom-ness’. • Third, the study also explores the political dimension of development and in doing so, it tries to examine whether or not the involvement of political and local influential actors contribute to the successful implementation of the programme. From this perspective, this study not only considers the impact of the programme on human dignity of the participants but also attempts to understand and explain the process through which the ENRICH programme is being implemented. Therefore, this study focuses on the following areas. • Review the multidimensional the ENRICH programme approach as a process and in terms of the integration of the services provided. In this context, the study adopts the process-­tracing approach. • Assess the psychological improvement and hopefulness of the programme participants aimed at developing an understanding as to whether or not and, if yes, how the participation in the ENRICH programme ensures elimination of tragic choice and eventually enables the participants to exercise freedom of choice, thus, leading to a positive change in human dignity. • Assess the economic impact of the ENRICH programme. • Review possible expansion of the ENRICH programme coverage and upscaling of the planning and implementation unit from union to upazila level.

2.3  Research Questions and Specific Objectives of the Study In line with the scope and specific evaluative focus, the study has sought to answer the following two broad questions. • Has the ENRICH programme, as a multidimensional integrated programme, succeeded in assisting the programme participants in improving their living conditions to a dignified level? If yes, how the positive changes in human dignity can be understood theoretically and empirically? • Has the ENRICH programme succeeded in developing a coordinated and integrated process in implementing the programme activities and has this programme design influenced the impact generated?

2.4 Research Approach, Methodology and Data Collection

11

Towards finding answers to these two broad questions, the following specific objectives have been addressed. • An assessment of effectiveness of the programme interventions in terms of ensuring human freedom and dignity for all; • An assessment of the socio-economic impact in terms of, for example, human capability of individuals via enhanced education, skills, awareness and job linkages and their economic capacity via access to funds and assets and opportunities for sustained improvement in the incomes of the ENRICH programme participants; • An assessment of efficiencies of the POs in implementing the programme through their the ENRICH programme branches • Suggesting a way forward for the continuation of the programme

2.4  Research Approach, Methodology and Data Collection 2.4.1  Research Approach In view of the key research questions and the specific objectives outlined above, it is clear that this study needs to deploy a mixed method research approach, which can generate the theoretical framework that can explain how different components of the ENRICH programme are impacting on ‘freedom of choice’ of the programme participants (who were previously denied freedom in exercising these choices). From this perspective, the quantitative research serves the following purposes— first, an effort is made to show how interventions in different domains introduced by the ENRICH programme have impacted on the living conditions of the participants and whether or not and, if yes, how it has assisted them to be better-off, compared to the past. Second, to some extent, the quantitative approach also indicates how the overall choice-sets of the programme participants have been impacted over time and whether and, if yes, how this improvement in the choice-sets has enabled the participants to adopt the beneficial choice (by eliminating tragic choice) in shaping their lives. For these specific purposes, a household survey has been conducted and the data collected through the survey serve two different purposes, as follows. • Data sets collected through the household survey conducted for the purpose of this study have been compared with the baseline data generated by the survey conducted before the ENRICH programme was introduced in each union, to understand how the interventions in different domains have impacted on the situation of the participants in different respects including income, opportunities for social progress, access to health and education, access to sanitation services, and so on. • That data were also used to conduct a ‘difference-in-difference‘study to understand how specific changes have occurred in the living conditions of the households that have participated in the ENRICH programme.

12

2  Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

While the quantitative data have been helpful in understanding the changes in the living conditions of the programme participants, the qualitative data, coupled with the quantitative data, have been useful for understanding how the changes in the living conditions of the participants have influenced their dignity. From this perspective, changes in human dignity have been measured mostly through qualitative tools with support from quantitative data. Qualitative data have also been used to understand the process through which the ENRICH programme has been impacting on human dignity and, for this purpose, the study has adopted a process-tracing approach that relies on the qualitative data. Table 2.1 shows the connection between research questions, specific objectives, approaches and the tools:

2.4.2  Quantitative Data Collection For quantitative data, a survey of 1500 households from 10 the ENRICH programme villages (the selection procedure used is explained later) was conducted. A set of semi-structured questionnaires has been used for the survey to collect quantitative data from the respondents through face-to-face interviews. The PKSF baseline data for phases one and two have been used for a before and after comparison, which has allowed, solid and meaningful assessment of a number of the ENRICH programme Table 2.1  Methodology matrix Research questions Has the ENRICH programme succeeded in assisting the programme participants in living a dignified life? If yes, how can the positive changes in human dignity, both theoretically and empirically, be understood?

How has the ENRICH programme managed to develop a coordinated and integrated mechanism in implementing the programme and how has this programme design influenced the impact generated?

Specific objectives Assess socioeconomic impact of the ENRICH programme Assess effectiveness in terms of improving human dignity

Assess efficiencies of the POs

Recommend future actions

Approaches Mostly quantitative data with support from qualitative data Mixed, i.e. both qualitative and quantitative

Process-­ tracing through qualitative method Qualitative

Quantitative tools Survey, comparison with base-line, difference-in difference

Qualitative tools Review of documents, FGDs, KIIs, case-studies

Not applicable

Developing theoretical framework and substantiate using data collected through FGDs, KIIs and case-studies FGDs, KIIs

Not applicable

FGDs, KIIs

Survey data, difference-in-­ difference

2.4 Research Approach, Methodology and Data Collection

13

components. Data have been collected using tablets programmed by Open Data Kit (ODK), which is an industry standard and a versatile survey tool. The main household respondent for the survey is the household head, wife or husband.

2.4.3  Qualitative Data Collection The qualitative research involved key informant interviews (KII), focus group discussions (FGDs) and case studies. The research has been conducted in the 10 selected study unions under the ENRICH programme and five control unions selected purposively from nearby non-ENRICH areas. To facilitate collection of qualitative data from the field, interview guidelines and stakeholder-based checklists were used. In order to collect qualitative data from the target population multiple research techniques have been utilised. Thus, it has been possible to collect in-depth information concerning the study objectives and indicators. The following techniques have been used to collect qualitative data. FGDs  FGDs have been conducted to gather a wide variety of information from a large number of target respondents in the study areas. Each group consisted of 6–8 participants. Group discussions were conducted with the respondents from all the study areas. Focused questions were asked to the participants in order to encourage discussion and expression of differing opinions and points of view regarding various aspects and components of the ENRICH programme. KIIs  KIIs were conducted to seek views and opinions of key informants on various aspects of the on-going the ENRICH programme activities. KIIs have also been helpful in terms of views and information obtained on relevance, effectiveness and challenges of the ENRICH programme. Case Studies  The following case studies were conducted to obtain more detailed and comprehensive information from the respondents. • Community development infrastructure • Rehabilitated beggar • Special savings loan receiver

2.4.4  Study Areas The quantitative data, as noted above, have been gathered from 10 ENRICH unions and qualitative data from these 10 and five control unions. The geographical identification of these areas are as below (Table 2.2).

14

2  Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

Table 2.2  Study areas Survey (quantitative and qualitative): ENRICH unions District (zila) Union Sampled village Netrokona Durgapur Farongpara Satkhira Atulia Dokhin Poschim Atulia Sylhet Tetlee Nijgaon Chuadanga Simanto Sadarpara Gaibandha Saghata Hasilkandhi Chittagong Sayedpur Hachupara Bhola Aslampur Poschim Khodezabagpara Rangamati Wagga Joutho Khamar Moulavibazar Pachgaon Konkiari Thakurgaon Auliapur Sarkarpara

Qualitative: Non-ENRICH unions District Union Netrokona Durgapur Sylhet Tetoli Chuadanga Simanto Gaibandha Saghata Chittagong Saidpur

2.5  Sampling, Sampling Process and Sample Size For the quantitative survey, the 10 unions were randomly selected out of 35 Unions covered in the first two phases. Then, from these 10 unions, 10 villages (one from each union) and then 1500 hundred households were randomly selected for the household survey. This was done based on a household (population) weighted basis as follows: each village weight was determined by dividing the number of households in that village by the number of households in the union. This gave percentage shares of each village in the total households in the union, which were then listed cumulatively from 1–100%. As a result, all the households in a union had an equal probability of selection. When the household number of a selected village was more than 150, the village was divided into 3 clusters and then data were collected from each cluster. From each cluster 50 households were selected, resulting in 150 households from a village. When there were less than 150 households in a village, the selected village was merged with a nearby village and then the merged village was divided into 3 clusters. In this way, 150 households were selected from each selected village and a total 1500 (10 × 150) households were interviewed. Table 2.3 shows the sample distribution across the study unions.

2.5.1  Sample Distribution for Qualitative Survey For the qualitative part, respondents were selected following purposive sampling technique. Table 2.4 lists the respondents and sample for the study.

2.4 Research Approach, Methodology and Data Collection

15

Table 2.3  Sample distribution for quantitative survey Sl. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total

PO DSK NNF TMSS WAVE SKS IPSA FDA IDF HEED ESDO

Zila Netrokona Satkhira Sylhet Chuadanga Gaibandha Chittagong Bhola Rangamati Moulavibazar Thakurgaon

Union Durgapur Atulia Tetlee Simanto Saghata Sayedpur Aslampur Wagga Pachgaon Auliapur

Sampled village Farongpara Dokhin Poschim Atulia Nijgaon Sadarpara Hasilkandhi Hachupara Poschim Khodezabagpara Joutho Khamar Konkiari Sarkarpara

Household number 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 150 1500

Table 2.4  Sample distribution for qualitative survey Item KII

Sl Category 01 Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) 02 Upazila/Assistant Education Officer (UEO/UAEO) 03 UP Chairman 04 Project Implementation Officer (PIO) 05 Upazila Health Officer (UHO) 06 Community Health Care Provider (CHCP) 07 Project Coordinator (PC), the ENRICH programme 08 Enterprise Development Officer (EDO), the ENRICH programme 09 Social Development Officer (SDO), the ENRICH programme 10 Health Officer (EHO), the ENRICH programme 11 Executive Director (ED) of the PO

Description 1 from 1 upazila 1 from 1 upazila 3 from 3 unions 1 from 1 upazila 1 from upazila

Type of field Upazila with ENRICH union(s) ” 2 control and 1 treatment Treatment

Number 01 01 03 01

1 from 1 union (5*1) (treatment) 1 from 1 union (5*1)

1 control and 1 treatment 1 control and 1 treatment Treatment

05

Treatment

05

1 from 1 union (5*1)

Treatment

05

1 from 1 union (5*1)

Treatment

05

1 from 1 union (5*1)

Treatment

05

2 from 5 unions

02 02

(continued)

16

2  Background, Scope of the Study and Research Methodology

Table 2.4 (continued) Item Sl Category Case 01 Beggar study 02 Special savings scheme 03 Community development 04 ENRICHed home, FGD 01 the ENRICH programme youth committee 02 the ENRICH programme ward committee Total

Description 1 BRAC, 1 the ENRICH programme, 1 Govt. supported (2 successful and 2 not so successful cases) Infrastructure (latrine, roads etc)

Type of field 2 control and 1 treatment

Number 03

Treatment

04

Treatment

03

Treatment Treatment

02 05

Treatment

05 57

* = Multiplied by

Reference Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM). (2016). Impact of ENRICH program at the household level. Dhaka: InM.

Chapter 3

Inception and Evolution

As mentioned earlier, the PKSF was established by the GoB in 1990, with a mandate to contribute to poverty reduction/elimination and development in the country. In its Articles of Association, credit (not microcredit) is mentioned as a tool of poverty reduction, along with several non-financial services. But, the PKSF, from the very beginning, adopted micro-credit as the only tool for poverty reduction and turned into a funding agency for micro-credit only. In fact, the organisation, over the years, attained significant success as a funder of NGOs for micro-credit. This approach created some positive impact on the incomes of the borrowers, but the PKSF lost its mandated broader focus in relation to different domains including but not limited to education, training, health services and other livelihood interventions. It appears that the organisation simply followed the “...dominant thinking in the country at the time” which considered micro-credit as the major, if not the only means of poverty reduction. Over the years, however, the contribution of micro-credit to poverty reduction has been analysed through critical lenses and different studies show that access to micro-credit alone cannot create a sustainable pathway out of poverty. Nevertheless, though the PKSF adopted some diversification and innovative approaches in its microcredit activities, it remained, up to 2009, primarily a source of funds for its POs for extending microcredit to their members. But, things started to change after Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad took charge as Chairman of the PKSF with effect from November 2009. Ahmad started thinking about a new approach for the PKSF, which would empower it to implement its mandate fully and play a meaningful role in poverty elimination and development in Bangladesh. While talking to the authors of this book, Ahmad shared his ideas that encouraged him to think about a new approach. The key considerations outlined by him include the following: • He talked about his own understanding and experience (based on his extensive study visits to rural Bangladesh and interactions with microcredit takers, NGO functionaries and others concerned, even before he came to the PKSF) and evi© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 M. Greeley et al., Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71668-4_3

17

18

•

•

•

•

•

3  Inception and Evolution

dence from the existing literature that led him to conclude that microcredit alone cannot contribute to sustained poverty reduction. Rather, expanded access to credit or appropriate credit can help the borrowers in an effective way. But, even then, other non-financial services would be required. In fact, as he pointed out, “...It has been found, though, that access to microcredit gives the borrowers some freedom to choose what business to pursue but limited flexibility in terms of undertaking more potential income earning activities.” Therefore, a new approach was required to ensure access to appropriate credit along with other necessary services, which would have a much bigger impact on poverty reduction leading to its elimination. He cited four studies, two of which were published after the introduction of the the ENRICH programme. Two studies show that less than 10% of the microcredit taking poor households in Bangladesh could move above poverty line in Bangladesh (Ahmad 2007; Zohir 2010). Another study found that the poor microcredit taking households failed to increase their income and wealth much to get out of poverty. This study was conducted in six Asian, African, and Latin American countries and one European poor country—Bosnia and Herze Gobina (Poverty Bulletin of J-PAL, MIT and IPA 2015). The fourth study has found a noticeable positive impact of ‘microcredit’ on poverty reduction in Bangladesh, but, it has been explained that this outcome is largely due to expanded credit and other relevant services provided along with credit (Osmani et al. 2016). The poor, even non-poor households were taking microcredit years on end on an annual basis, with no exit strategy. Since microcredit does not to lead to poverty elimination, much less on a sustainable basis, the households have had to rely on this small amount of credit every year for a little flexibility it meant for them to keep surviving. Each loan has had to be repaid within the year. Up to 2009, the PKSF mostly worked through the POs and had very limited, if any, interactions with the people. That is, even though the PKSF was working to support the poor, it was carrying out the responsibility without interacting with them directly. According to Ahmad, this had to change and the PKSF should come up with a new approach, which is people-centric and where the focus is not only supporting them through credit service only but also to work with them on social and other relevant issues so that they can successfully build their capacity to participate in the development activities effectively and move ahead, improving their quality of life. For this to happen, while the POs would implement the programmes, the PKSF officials have to interact with people supported as widely as possible. Since poverty is multidimensional, there is no one easy way of reducing/eliminating poverty. It surely cannot be achieved by focusing on one simple tool. Poverty reduction/elimination requires a holistic and comprehensive approach to improving socio-economic conditions of the poor. The approach should give them more choices and freedom to make a choice from the existing and expanded choice-sets. It is essential that poverty is strategically positioned in the overall development discourse such that multiple dimensions of poverty are simultaneously addressed.

3  Inception and Evolution

19

From this perspective, poverty reduction/elimination is not an end in itself. Instead, it should be viewed as the means to the ultimate goal of enabling people, suffering from dignity deficits, to live dignified lives. • Development is essentially a political process, he contends. Hence, the inherent political nature of development has been taken into consideration and efforts made in designing the ENRICH programme to develop an integrated approach that does not ignore the national or local political contexts. Rather, the ENRICH programme embraces local and national political perspectives and directly works with the local political institutions and political leaders of different political pursuations. The concern he had about the PKSF’s existing microcredit-based approach at the time he came to the PKSF and his focus on human-centricity of development encouraged Ahmad to lead the formulation of a new approach. He wrote: “The idea of household-based total development by assigning one union (the lowest government administrative unit) to one PO crossed my mind as I lay in a hospital bed after a surgery in the first week of February 2010. The idea of ‘one PO-one union’ has since flourished into what came to be known as the ENRICH. When, on return from the hospital, I broached the idea with the senior officials of the PKSF and gave them an outline as to how may it be shaped and implemented, they found it a worthwhile, even an exciting idea. The enthusiasm and dedication with which they worked out the details, regularly discussing various aspects with me, filled me with expectation as we embarked on this path. In the meantime, extensive consultations were held with POs of the PKSF and experts on rural development, as the proposal was being prepared. After a few months, the proposal was approved by the PKSF Governing Body and we were implementing the ENRICH in 21 unions initially” (Ahmad 2016: 10).

Thus, the ENRICH programme started and continues its journey as an integrated poverty reduction/elimination and development programme, with interventions in different domains. The programme participants have voices and scope to participate in the process of defining the arrangement for partnership. Along with other financial and non-financial services, appropriate credit is provided to the poor and lowincome non-poor to enable them to move forward in terms of improving their living conditions. These and other activities undertaken are directed towards a common aim- “restoring people’s confidence unto themselves and flowering of their innate abilities to achieve a life of human dignity and freedom. Hence, by the manner in which it works, the ENRICH programme is helping the people’s inherent abilities to flourish so that they are endowed with the key to their progress to that end. With renewed confidence and hope, the poor, then, move ahead and break free from the shackles of multidimensional poverty and indignity and achieve living standards characterized by human freedom and dignity, along with material uplift” (Ahmad 2016: 11). As mentioned earlier, the ENRICH programme has adopted the union as its geographical focal unit for operational purposes. As noted earlier, the programme is implemented through a unique partnership of the PKSF, the PO, the UP and the programme participants, all enjoying flexibility in making their contributions.

20

3  Inception and Evolution

Hence, there is an ownership element characterising the attitude of each partner. This has worked very well, as has been found by this study (discussed later).

3.1  Evolution of the ENRICH Programme As mentioned earlier, the ENRICH programme started with 21 unions in 2010. Over the years, the programme has expanded significantly and, currently, it is being implemented in 202 unions across the country. Moreover, the PKSF has introduced this programme in all unions of three upazilas and is thinking about scaling up this approach as much is possible within the available means and institutional capacity. Table 3.1 shows the phase-wise expansion of the programme. Table 3.1 shows the total households in the 202 ENRICH unions and the number of households eligible for all services and support activities under he the ENRICH programme. However, all the households can access health and education services. The estimated total population in all the unions is about six million, of whom about five million are eligible for inclusion in the ENRICH programme on a comprehensive basis. The unions are selected on the basis of set of criteria including economic backwardness, climate vulnerability and geographical spread. The 202 unions now under the ENRICH programme have been selected accordingly. Box 3.1 gives further details regarding selection of the unions and how the ENRICH programme implementation process is initiated in a union.

Table 3.1  Expansion of the ENIRCH programme Phase Batch Phase – 1 Batch 1 (21 unions) Batch 2 (14 unions) Batch 3 (8 unions) Sub-total 43 unions Phase – 2 Batch 4 (100 unions) Batch 5 (7 unions) Sub-total 107 unions Phase – 3 Batch 6 (50 unions) 202 unions Grand-­ total

Total households in the unions 117,616

Total eligible households 85,523

Eligible households as % the total households 72.70

84,582

66,378

78.50

46,700

35,025

75.00

248,898 630,756

186,926 540,808

75.10 85.73

38,148

33,652

88.21

668,904 344,116

574,460 285,615

85.88 83.00

1,261,917

1,047,001

83.00

Source: PKSF-ENRICH unit

3.2  Major Components of the ENRICH Programme

21

Box 3.1: The ENRICH Programme : Selection of Unions, and Households and Beginning of Activities In general, the aim of the ENRICH programme is to select the relatively backward unions from different parts of the country. The PKSF selects the unions and POs based on a set of criteria. Once the selection of a union is made and a PO assigned, two studies are conducted: a resource mapping exercise in each selected union to identify the existing resources and current development interventions and simultaneously a comprehensive household census of all households of the union, regardless of their socio-economic status. The household data and information collected through these surveys become the basis of the categorization of all households in the union into different groups. At first, the households are categorised by household income. The ENRICH programme initially focuses on ultra-poor and poor households, with monthly household incomes of up to BDT5,000 (US$64) and between BDT5,000+ (US$64+) and BDT5,800 (US$74) respectively. The non-poor households which are usually tenuously placed above poverty line and other low-­income groups are also included. The ENRICH programme activities can be classified into two broad levels: household and community. Having the data generated through the household survey with them, the ENRICH programme officials sit with the members of each household included in the programme in order to prepare a household plan jointly, which identifies constraints the household faces, the specific expectations the members espouse, and the support the household needs to overcome the constraints and fulfil the expectations. The problems faced by a community in the union or across the whole union are identified through community-level and union-wide reviews. However, the ENRICH programme alone does not address all the community and unionwide problems but does whatever is within the PKSF mandate and means of the ENRICH programme. Beyond that, it sensitizes and canvasses appropriate service providers effectively to take action in respect of relevant activities.

3.2  Major Components of the ENRICH Programme The ENRICH programme provides a wide range of services in accordance with multidimensionality of human needs, of which the major and strategic components include the following.

22

3  Inception and Evolution

3.2.1  Health The aim of the health component is to provide comprehensive primary healthcare services to all households in ENRICH unions. There is an adequate number of health visitors in each union, who visit each of the households at least once a month. The purpose of these visits is to collect health-related information from the household members. The data are collected and stored digitally. If found necessary, health visitors advise the household members concerned to go to the ENRICH programme static clinic. This work is supervised by the ENRICH programme Health Officers. Static clinics are an integral part of this component which are run by the health officers (paramedics), who sit every day at the ENRICH programme centres. The health officers treat patients at the static clinics if the ailment is within their ability to treat. But, if it is found necessary, they advise the patients to go for further treatment to the ENRICH programme satellite clinics, which are run by MBBS doctors once a week in each union. The health component of the programme works closely with the government and non-government medical institutions in the union or located outside the union but within easy reach such as community clinics, the upazila health complex and medical hospitals. Patients are referred to these institutions if it becomes necessary. In the case of referrals, there are often costs involved. Resources are mobilised from within the ENRICH programme or from other sources to meet all or most of the costs if the patients are from poor households, particularly if they are from the poorest households. Each household is required to buy a health card costing only BDT 100 (one hundred) and that entitles all members of the household to all prescribed services as well as monthly visit of the health visitor to the household for 1 year. The ENRICH programme also organises health camps (vision, dental, heart, diabetes, etc) with specialist doctors attending. A de-worming campaign has also been launched, which gives away free medicines to all of the registered households, covering all household members above the age of 5 years. The health component is being implemented across all 202 unions, covering most of the households at least in terms of visits by health visitors, even though health cards are not yet bought by many households. Of course, the households without health cards cannot access other health services free of cost. There are now 365 health officers and 2650 health visitors serving in all ENRICH unions. The health component also focuses on ensuring clean water supply and proper sanitation for the households living in ENRICH unions. Moreover, the health component raises awareness of the people relating to the importance of nutrition and advises them regarding appropriate affordable food intake for the purpose.

3.2  Major Components of the ENRICH Programme

23

3.2.2  Education This component mainly focuses on preventing drop-out from primary level education. This initiative is particularly concerned with the children of the poor households, who often do not have facilities at home to study and do not receive necessary educational assistance from parents who are more likely to be illiterate than not and being poor they cannot afford to engage private teachers to assist their children. These children, therefore, go to schools unprepared. As a result, they are frustrated as they cannot perform in schools or are scolded by the teachers. Hence, many of them stop going to school. To address this particular phenomenon, education assistance centres have been established under the ENRICH programme, where students from pre-primary up to primary class two can join. They are helped in preparing their next day’s tasks assigned at their schools. Usually, the centres are run from 3 PM to 5 PM 6 days a week except Fridays and public holidays. The children come there after their regular school time. These children are not only helped at the ENRICH programme centres with their studies but are also engaged in different extra-curricular activities. Another important feature of these centres is that they take special care of the students who are slow learners and need additional help. A monthly small fee of BDT 30 (thirty) per student is charged, importantly for ensuring their commitment. Usually teachers are local recruits and most of them are female. Anyone less than 35 years of age with a minimum of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) level education is eligible to be a teacher in such a centre. As of December 2019, the total number of afternoon education assistance centres in the 202 ENRICH unions was 6616, with one teacher in each. The total number of students was 173,418 (girls: 85,109 and boys: 88,309), as of December 2019. Data obtained from PKSF data-­ base show that the dropout rate among the students attending these centres, as they move up to Class 3, has, on average, come down to about 0.9%, while it is about 4.04% nationwide. The ENRICH programme is now piloting to extend this programme to cover classes 3 to 5. But, these children do not come to the ENRICH programme education centres. Rather the ENRICH programme is working with the teachers, school management committees and parents to help the children in their respective schools under appropriate arrangements to help them achieve better and join extra-curricular activities. Also, there is an emphasis on imbibing these children with human, social, and ethical values. In addition, under the PKSF education component, students at the levels of class 11 and above are provided with scholarships and many students from ENRICH unions receive scholarships under this scheme.

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3  Inception and Evolution

3.2.3  The ENRICH Programme Ward Centre An the ENRICH programme centre is planned to be established in every ward of all the 202 ENRICH unions. There are, on average, nine wards in a union. The total number of the ENRICH programme centres required in 202 unions is an estimated 1818. Already, 1300 centres have been established in 144 unions. These centres are set up to serve as hubs for the people of the ward to socialise and conduct various legitimate activities. These centres are, in fact, multipurpose entities. The land is provided by the local community as a matter of policy, which ensures an inherent local ownership. The ENRICH programme bears the costs of the building. Each centre is managed by an 11-member ward committee, which is headed by the elected member of the UP from that ward. The other members come from the community including representatives from such groups as political parties, senior citizens, other local elites, teachers and youth of the particular ward and the PO. The committee meets on a monthly basis to discuss development and social issues of the ward that need attention and to review the progress of the ENRICH programme activities and identify shortfalls, if any, and make suggestions for addressing such issues. Twice a year, joint meetings of all the ward committees in a union are held, chaired by the Chairman of the UP, for the purposes of briefing, coordination, and guidance. It has been ascertained that the ENRICH programme ward centres are generally used for such purposes as static and satellite clinics, local dispute resolution, youth training, and generally as a facilitating outfit for social capital formation in the respective wards for cooperative actions, mobilisation of ideas relating to shared responsibilities in undertaking community actions for development, and formulating ideas and action programmes for uprooting social evils such as child marriage, teasing of girls, drug addiction, and so on.

3.2.4  T  he ENRICH Programme Finance and Special Savings Scheme Finance There are three types of special credit services provided by the ENRICH programme to the households: Income Generating Activities Loan (IGAL), Livelihood Improvement Loan (LIL), and Asset Creation Loan (ACL). A household can access all three types of credit simultaneously. Under IGAL, eligible household members can take loans for more than one economic activity and for the expansion of an activity to increase their income. In financing IGAs, emphasis is given to economic activities with potential for productivity growth. The programme routinely provides training for skill development and upgrading, market information, marketing assistance and other necessary services. As of now, the ceiling of this loan is BDT one million (about US$12,000) and the maximum service charge is 24% on a declining

3.2  Major Components of the ENRICH Programme

25

balance method as determined by the government regulatory body Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA). Under LIL, loans are provided for repairing houses, the purchase of necessary household gadgets, and taking other actions related to livelihood improvement including defraying expenses for social functions such as the marriage of a daughter or a son. This loan ceiling for each household is BDT 10,000 (US$120) and the service charge payable is 8% on a declining balance method. The ACL is designed to assist a household to acquire any kind of productive asset. The ACL ceiling for a household is BDT 30,000 (US$360) and the service charge payable is 8% on declining balance method. Up to December 2019, a total of BDT 19,434 million (US$231.4 million) has been disbursed under these three loan schemes in the 202 ENRICH unions. Special Savings Scheme Savings are one of the tools of capital formulation for a household. Having an asset base is important for a household to lift itself out of poverty. In that spirit, a special savings scheme has been designed under the ENRICH programme for the ultrapoor households. Among the ultra-poor households, female-headed households and households with disabled members are particularly eligible to join this scheme. Such a household is advised to open a bank account and deposit some money (at least BDT 100 = US$1.20) into it per month for 2 years. The total savings is matched by the PKSF, in terms of a grant at the end of 2 years, up to a maximum of BDT 20,000 (US$240), on the condition that the total amount is used to acquire an asset (e.g. land, farm animals, skill upgrading of household members etc.) in consultation with the PO concerned and the PKSF. Such an asset base is most likely to help an assetless household to move towards a better and sustainable socio-economic future. As of December 2019, there were 5297 households of different ENRICH unions registered under this savings scheme. At that time, their total savings stood at BDT 46.4 million. Up to December 2019, 2207 members were given a total matching grant of BDT 29.5 million (US$0.35 million) under this special savings scheme, which they have used to acquire affordable appropriate assets.

3.2.5  Beggar Rehabilitation At first, genuine beggars are identified in a union through a thorough investigative process. It is understood that a lot of motivational work is needed to convince a beggar to give up begging and agree to be rehabilitated into a normal life. It often takes months of counselling and convincing. Once, a beggar, a man or a woman, agrees to be rehabilitated, the PO officials sit with them in order to assess their health conditions and other circumstances and potential economic activities for which they are interested and capable. Once that is settled, the beggar is given a grant of BDT 100,000 (about US$1200), but not in cash. The amount is deposited in a bank account. The grant recipient

26

3  Inception and Evolution

operates it jointly with an official of the PO. Instead of cash, the recipient is given support in kind, using the money from that account. If the beggar has a house, the house is repaired if and as required or if a person has land but not a house, a small house is constructed for her/him to live in and also a shed to accommodate the livestock (such as cow, goat) provided as a source of income. If the beggar has no land, a piece of land is found for her/him either in khas (government owned) land or through donation from a local charitable person or even from a relative and a house is constructed for the beggar. The beggars rehabilitated have chosen activities such as livestock rearing, grocery or other types of shops, auto van, peddle van etc. Under the programme, several of these and other appropriate items can be given to a beggar as long as the total cost does not exceed BDT 100,000. The progress of the beggars being rehabilitated is strictly monitored. It is made sure that the UP chairman or a member or a distinguished local person agrees to help a beggar as her/his mentor. Up until December 2019, 1345 beggars from 197 ENRICH unions were rehabilitated and were reportedly living with dignity in society. The full rehabilitation process usually takes about 2 years. Once they are rehabilitated, they are addressed and known as enterprising members in accordance with their newly acquired social dignity (and not as rehabilitated beggars).

3.2.6  Youth in Development This component has been specially designed to help the youth, female and male, acquire skills aligned with their respective aptitudes and, simultaneously, be imbued with human and social values and ethical principles. The purpose of this skill and morality training is to equip them on one hand to find employment or become entrepreneurs and, on the other, help promote healthy social environment in their locality or wherever they live or work by their honesty and morally appropriate behaviour and actions. They are encouraged to help eliminate such social ills as child marriage, teasing of girls, violence against women, child labour, dowry, smoking and drug addiction. They are also encouraged to help raise awareness in favour of ethics, minority rights, and fairness. The PKSF records show that about 239,000 young people, half of them females and half males, have been mobilised. About half of them already received values training, a 16-hour event, conducted digitally. Others are in the process of receiving this training. Those who receive this training are then given skill development training, batch by batch, in their chosen trades. Efforts are made to help those who receive skills training to find wage or salary-based employment if they are interested in such employment. Those interested in setting up their own businesses and become entrepreneurs are supported with appropriate financial and non-financial services. Over 70% of the youth trained in different skills up to December 2019 found jobs or established their own businesses, according to the PKSF officials.

3.2  Major Components of the ENRICH Programme

27

As to the socially beneficial activities, youth groups in ENRICH unions under this study were found to be active in helping ameliorate social menaces in certain respects at least, as per priorities determined by them.

3.2.7  Supporting Elderly People The number of elderly people is increasing in Bangladesh, both in urban and rural areas. They are lonely, neglected and uncared for. As a consequence, many of them tend to suffer from mental and psychological pressure in addition to various diseases the elderly tend to suffer from anyway, in relation to which also many of them remain deprived of medical attention due to negligence of their children and, in some cases, mainly due to poverty. Obviously they need attention to live with dignity, even to survive. Given this background, the PKSF as part of its multidimensional the ENRICH programme has included one component for uplifting the quality of the lives of the elderly. This component is being implemented by 106 POs in 218 unions (183 ENRICH unions and 35 other unions). So far, a total of more than 418,465 elderly people (208,421 females and 210,044 males) have been brought under this scheme. The purpose is to facilitate dignified living of elderly people. The slogan for this component has been culled from a poem of Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Rangiye Diye Jao’, which translated in English is ‘illuminate as you go’. Major activities for the welfare of these elderly people being implemented include the following. They are brought under the ENRICH programme health service scheme and their medical needs are attended to on a priority base. A union central committee in each union and a ward committee in each ward of each union have been formed. These committees meet regularly to review the progress of various actions being taken, identify shortfalls if any, determine what more can be done, and propose modifications in the ways things are being done if found appropriate. Government provides a per head monthly allowance of Taka 500 to elderly people. But, due to resource constraint all eligible older people everywhere cannot be included in the list of recipients of this allowance. The ENRICH programme gives an allowance in the same amount to those not yet included in the government scheme. This fills up gaps and helps the excluded to join the ranks of the government allowance recipients. In addition, the elderly are also supported by giving them umbrellas, wheelchairs and other consumer durables, as appropriate. To encourage the sons and daughters of the elderly to take care of their parents, an annual award is given to the best offspring in each union who is found to be most respectfully helpful to her/his elderly parents, selected through a process of evaluation by a jury. Similarly, the best older person in each union based on her/his cooperation and goodwill for the family, selected through a similar process, is given an award. The purpose is to encourage both the children and the elderly parents to be supportive of each other. Obviously, the responsibility falls mostly on the children

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to support their parents graciously, who in fact did take care of them when they were unable to do anything for themselves. The older people who are physically able and willing to work are trained in their chosen trades and helped to find jobs if that’s what they want to do. But, often they want to start an income generating activity. In this case, they are assisted with funds, other necessary services, and advice as to how to go about that. They are also supported in terms of advice on acquiring appropriate tools and equipment, market information and marketing assistance. In each union, a centre for the elderly was initially planned to be established and was actually established in 98 unions. But, later on, it appeared that it was not possible for many elderly persons to come to one centrally established centre because of travelling hassle and travel costs involved when they come from a distance. The construction of one such centre in a union has been halted, and, instead, the ENRICH programme ward centres have been made accessible to the elderly from that ward. This is a better arrangement for the elderly as they can relatively easily go to those centres and conduct their businesses. The centre management in each ward headed by the UP Member from that ward allocate time schedules for the elderly to use the facility. This is an issue the GoB has flagged for serious attention. Accordingly, The National Policy on Older Persons 2013 and The Parent’s Care Act 2013 have been adopted. The PKSF has been, as is its policy, trying to fill the gaps in this regard.

3.2.8  ENRICHed Home The concept of establishing ENRICHed homes has emerged from the programme’s focus on the best utilisation of the existing resources of each household. The idea is to help households utilise the homestead land as intensively as possible through proper planning based on the amount of land available. An ENRICHed home contains house(s) for the members of the household not only to live in but also to use for relaxing and entertaining. In such a home, there is usually a sanitary latrine as well as a tube-well for drinking water. The economic activities conducted in such a homestead include livestock, poultry and pigeon rearing; cultivation of vegetables; and plantation of lemon, sajna, fruit and other trees and medicinal plants. Flowers are cultivated to promote an aesthetic and pleasing environment. There is also either a solar home-system or a biogas plant, which create a healthy home environment than when biomass is used. A good quality cooking stove is used for further improvement in this regard. Sustainable, environment-friendly fertiliser vermi-compost is produced by the households for their own use and/or for sale. All ENRICHed households are, of course, covered by the ENRICH programme education, health, and all other components. A major emphasis is placed on cleanliness. Up to December 2019, a total of 12,675 ENRICHed homes were established in different ENRICH unions. Establishment of ENRICHed homes has been expanding fast, both as a result of persuasion and demonstration effect. It does not require much extra money to establish an ENRICHed home. It requires willingness and committed efforts.

3.3  Uniqueness of the ENRICH Programme

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3.2.9  Environment and Climate Change Under this component, actions that are feasible at the local level and permitted by availability of resources are undertaken to protect the environment and minimise the impact of climate change. This is essential in the context of promoting and protecting socio-economic development. The interventions include awareness building; raising the plinths of houses and other establishments; tree plantation; use of improved cooking stoves, solar lanterns and biogas; cleanliness; and possible collective actions at the time of natural disasters.

3.2.10  Community Development Under its union/community-level development component, the ENRICH programme undertakes repair and construction of culverts and bridges and installs sanitary latrines and shallow and deep tube-wells in public and communal places such as schools, colleges, madrasas, mosques, temples, and libraries. Up to December 2019, 4954 community level sanitary latrines, 81,001 household level sanitary latrines for poor households, 6135 shallow and deep tube-wells and 38 Pond Sand Filters (PSF) were built or repaired in various unions. Also, 1577 small culverts/ bridges in various unions and 1.5 km of road in a union were constructed. Moreover, in 11 unions, 100% sanitation facilities (household as well as community level) were installed by December 2019; and work was in progress towards this goal in all ENRICH unions.

3.3  Uniqueness of the ENRICH Programme As mentioned earlier, the ENRICH programme is different than other programmes/ initiatives carried out by the PKSF. This difference can be analysed from two different perspectives—procedural and design—all interventions in combination and juxtaposition, making the whole unique and potent.

3.3.1  Distinctive Features from Procedural Perspective Emphasis on Total Development and Capability Enhancement  The ENRICH programme has adopted a ‘total development’ approach and, hence, supports all dimensions of human living and all the people living in a union. From a programming perspective, the operational unit of the ENRICH programme is the entire union and, as such, it aims at supporting all the people living within that union. While a particular focus is on supporting the most vulnerable and poverty-prone groups, the programme mandate encompasses ensuring well-being of all the people

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3  Inception and Evolution

living in the union, irrespective of their economic conditions. The ENRICH programme is designed to include everyone in the developmental process in appropriate ways. Emphasis on Human Capability Enhancement  The ENRICH programme focuses on human capability enhancement as key to total development. For the poor and low-income households, for example, the process starts with education and health services and skill training as the initial package of services in this context. Other support services provided include facilitating access to information, finance, technology, marketing assistance, etc. and arranging needed exposure and opportunity for upgrading of skills, both managerial and technical, as appropriate at different stages of moving forward by the participants in relation to poverty eradication and beyond poverty advancement. Reliance on ‘One PO-one Union  The ENRICH programme relies on a ‘one PO-one union’ approach so that all components of the ENRICH programme are implemented by one PO in one union. As pointed out earlier, these POs are selected carefully on the basis of their ability, social development orientation and commitments and they are allowed to exercise flexibility within the framework provided and keeping the overall programme goals in view. Emphasis on Development as a Political Process  Given that the ENRICH programme focuses on an integrated development approach and aims at ensuring freedom of choice and dignified lives for all, it acknowledges that development is an inherently political process and in ensuring development, political dynamics need to be taken on board, which it does by involving the UP as advisory partner and including local political leaders in the ENRICH programme ward committees. This is a bold strategic move that the programme does not keep the local political leaders, local government agencies and institutions at bay. Instead, the programme has been designed creating space for working with them in a collaborative way and, as will be explained later, this collaborative approach has played an important role in making the programme successful.

3.3.2  Distinctive Features from Design Perspective A Human-Centred Approach Targetting Achievement of Human Dignity  As indicated earlier, the ENRICH programme not only concentrates on economic development but also focuses on people’s capability development and empowerment. Considering its focus on human dignity, the ENRICH programme has adopted an intervention strategy that supports multiple action areas including health, education, skill training, income generating activities, environmental improvement and protection and so on to reduce/eliminate poverty in its multiple dimensions. In effect, the ENRICH programme considers investment in education, skill training and health services as a necessary pre-­requisite for poverty eradication and beyondpoverty long-term sustainable development of the programme participants.

3.3  Uniqueness of the ENRICH Programme

31

Introduction of the Idea of ‘Appropriate Credit’  Acknowledging that poverty alleviation requires larger investments in social and economic enterprises, the ENRICH programme has introduced the concept of ‘appropriate credit‘implying that the amount of credit provided needs to be adequate for the planned activity, taking into account the ability of the participant concerned. As a poor person advances, she/he is provided with larger credit, that is appropriate at that stage, along with adequate other services to ensure their continued progress. However, as of now, the largest amount of a loan that the PISF allows is BDT one million. But, this is significant enough for a worthwhile economic forward move for a person pursuing beyond-poverty economic advancement. If the persons seek to further upgrade their economic pursuits, they can look for other sources of funds including banks with the help of the PKSF if need be. Focus on Addressing Shocks  The ENRICH programme recognises the vulnerability of the poor households and takes into consideration the fact that economic gains can be outweighed by higher intensity of idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. The ENRICH programme, therefore, focuses on building the capacity of the poor households to deal with such shocks. Environmental Degradation and Climate Change  It recognises the losses and damages being caused by environmental degradation and the fast worsening climate change and seeks to minimise those impacts through local-level feasible actions. Protection of environmental integrity is one of the three pillars of sustainable development along with economic and social development. Involvement of Youth and Adolescents and Taking Care of the Elderly  In line with its focus on ‘total development’, the ENRICH programme involves the adolescents and youth groups. Interventions are in place, as explained earlier, to imbibe them with humanitarian values and provide them skill training for their own development in terms of participation in economic and social activities and also contribution to socio-economic progress of their communities and the union and in the ultimate analysis the nation by sensibly acting from their own vantage points. Elderly people having made their contributions when they were able-bodied often find themselves vulnerable and helpless. The ENRICH programme includes an intervention to ensure that they live more agreeably. Life Cycle Approach  The ENRICH programme follows a life cycle approach. It supports pregnant and lactating mothers, the new-born, adolescents, the youth, adults and the elderly in appropriate ways. It tries to build bridges across age groups to help create a social environment of mutual support among different age groups. Community Engagement  The programme also focuses on ensuring community participation towards achieving community-level development and to that end, ideas and advice of the community leaders are taken into consideration in designing specific interventions.

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Building Social Capital  One of the key factors that has made the ENRICH programme unique is its focus on building social capital at both people’s and institutional levels. The ENRICH programme aims at encouraging family cohesion and collective action for achieving progress, community engagement and cohesion as well as participation of people from all segments of the community in pursuing community development activities. This has enabled people to own the programme and the building of social capital for social and economic progress, which indicates the potential sustainability of the programme. Longer Term Support  The ENRICH programme stands by, say, an extremely poor household in its journey of moving forward to being poor, non-poor and, finally, stepping on sustainable development pathway, with an appropriate financial and non-financial support package at each stage. The preceding discussions show how the directions and contents of the ENRICH programme have evolved and how different components of the programme come together to promote the ultimate goal of human dignity for all set the tone of this programme. The question, however, is as to how do these components play a key role in helping the deprived programme participants achieve humanly dignified living? In Chap. 6, a theoretical framework is developed that explains the connection between the components of the ENRICH programme and human dignity, which is used to assess the outcome of the ENRICH programme in terms of human dignity.

References Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). (2015, February). Where credit is due. Policy Bulletin. New Haven. http://www.povertyactionlab.org/publication/where-­credit-­is-­due Ahmad, Q. K. (Ed.). (2007). Socio-economic and indebtedness-related impact of micro-credit in Bangladesh. Dhaka: ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB)/Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)/ University Press Limited (UPL). Ahmad, Q.  K. (2016). Empowerment is key to poverty eradication and human dignity: A new holistic PKSF approach: ENRICH. Dhaka: PKSF. Osmani, S.R., Ahmed, A., Ahmed, T., Hossain, N., Huq, S., Shahan, A. (2016). Strategic review of food security and nutrition in Bangladesh. Dhaka: World Food Programme Zohir, S. (2010). Number of microcredit clients crossing the US $1.25 a day threshold during 1990–2008—Estimates from a nationwide survey in Bangladesh. Economic Research Group, Dhaka. Available at: https://www.findevgateway.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/ mfg-en-paper-number-of-microcredit-clients-crossing-the-us-125-a-day-threshold-during1990-2008-estimates-from-a-nationwide-survey-in-bangladesh-aug-2010.pdf

Chapter 4

Changes in Socio-economic Status of the ENRICH Programme Participants

The chapter provides an overview of the changes in socio-economic conditions of the households in the ENRICH programme areas since the inception of the programme. It depicts descriptive statistics on a selected set of indicators aligned with the main interventions of the ENRICH programme. To show community level scenario of economic wellbeing, a set of key indicators are measured at the village level using the data from the endline survey. The endline dataset includes a sample of 1500 households drawn from 10 randomly selected villages belonging to 10 randomly selected unions under the ENRICH programme. The endline estimates are then compared with the corresponding figures from the baseline dataset based on the household census. In order to compare the findings with the corresponding estimates from nationally representative surveys, an effort has been made to provide relevant estimates from various Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHSs). In the next chapter, a panel dataset has been constructed using the baseline and the endline datasets to evaluate the impact of the ENRICH programme using the difference-in-differences (DD) framework. A set of dimensions are examined in this chapter. First, in order to get an understanding of the standard of living of the communities located in the programme areas, indicators including construction materials of the main dwellings, access to electricity, safe drinking water, and proper sanitation facilities are considered. Second, to have a closer look at the level of economic wellbeing, income and food consumption patterns of the households are also investigated. Third, the performance of the ENRICH programme health and education interventions are analazed by investigating the level and the determinants of participation in these activities. It has been observed that the standard of living of the communities in the ENRICH programme areas has improved considerably compared to baseline. One important indicator of standard of living is the construction materials used in the main house. There has been a significant improvement in the proportion of households with pucca or semi pucca dwellings. The role of the ENRICH programme in improving the access of households to alternative energy sources is also reflected in © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 M. Greeley et al., Sustainable Development, Human Dignity and Choice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71668-4_4

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4  Changes in Socio-economic Status of the ENRICH Programme Participants

the rate of penetration of solar panel-based electricity in the communities which lagged behind significantly in terms of access to electricity from the national grid. It is also observed that there are some specific groups which need further support from the ENRICH programme to achieve better standards of living.

4.1  Housing Characteristics Table 4.1 reports the percentages of households with pucca and semi-pucca dwellings at the times of baseline and endline surveys. The dwellings in the rest of households are kancha at baseline and endline respectively. Improvement in the standard of living of the people living in ENRICH unions is also reflected in the changes in the distribution of housing structure (Table 4.1). The overall proportion of households having pucca or semi pucca dwellings has increased from 10.4% at baseline to 27.3% at endline. For the sake of comparison, BDHS 2017–2018 reported that 26.2% of the houses in rural areas used bricks and cement as wall materials, which was 22.9% in 2014 (BDHS 2014). Clearly, the ENRICH programme villages under this study were relatively backward at the time of baseline survey in relation to quality of dwellings compared to the national average—10.4% vs 22.9% or so. The improvement regarding dwellings in the ENRICH programme is, thus, more significant. In some of the unions, the changes in housing structure have been remarkable. For instance, in Farong para village under Durgapur union only 3.8% of the houses were identified as pucca or semi pucca during the baseline, which has increased to 29.3% in the endline. Similar trend is also observed in Konkiari village under the Panchgaon union, where the proportion of pucca or semi pucca dwellings has increased to 34.0% in endline from 10.5% in baseline. However, in one study

Table 4.1  Percentage of households with pucca or semi pucca dwellings Union Aslampur

Study village Poschim Khodezabagpara Atulia Dokhin Poschim Atulia Auliapur Sarkarpara Durgapur Farongpara Panchgaon Konkiari Sayedpur Hachupara Saghata Hasilkandhi Simanto Sadarpur Tetlee Nijgaon Wagga Joutho Khamar Overall

Baseline: pucca or semi pucca (%) 2.1

Endline: pucca or semi pucca (%) 10.7

11.3 – 3.8 10.5 6.7 1.8 43.0 60.1 13.6 10.4

7.3 12.0 29.3 34.0 24.7 14.7 42.0 71.3 27.3 27.3

4.2 Access to Electricity

35

village, Dokhin Poschim Atulia under Atulia union, the percentage of households with pucca or semi pucca dwellings has declined by one percentage point in endline compared to baseline.

4.2  Access to Electricity There has been a significant increase in the access to electricity at the household level across all ENRICH unions. It is observed that on average 92.3% of the households in the sample villages have access to electricity (supplied either by national grid or solar power), which is significantly higher than the proportion (36.1%) recorded at the union level during the baseline study. The increase in access to electricity connection in ENRICH unions is in line with the trend in electricity connection in rural areas in general. This general improvement in electricity connection reflects government efforts to ensure access of all households of the country to electricity. However, the ENRICH programme has helped poor households to afford electricity relatively more comfortably. Endline survey shows that, overall, the proportion of households with grid electricity has increased from 17.5% at baseline to 81.8% at endline. In eight out of ten sample villages, the incidence of access to grid electricity is above the national average, which was 76.4% in 2017 (BDHS 2019). In two sample villages, access to grid electricity is below the national average, while the penetration of solar electricity is very high. One important activity of the ENRICH programme is to install solar panels in areas where grid connectivity is low. Table 4.2 shows that there has been a sharp increase in access to solar electricity since the baseline survey. It is found that among the households which have no grid electricity connection, 57.5% have access to solar energy at endline, which reflects a sharp increase compared to the average baseline Table 4.2  Percentage of households with access to electricity Union Aslampur Atulia Auliapur Durgapur Panchgaon Sayedpur Saghata Simanto Tetlee Wagga Overall

Study village Poschim Khodezabagpara Dokhin Poschim Atulia Sarkarpara Farongpara Konkiari Hachupara Hasilkandhi Sadarpur Nijgaon Joutho Khamar

Electricity (grid, %) Baseline Endline 0.7 64.7 17.5 24.0 – 84.7 0.3 95.3 13.2 85.3 53.3 96.7 13.3 89.3 46.6 93.3 78.3 98.7 60.7 86.0 17.5 81.8

Solar (% if no grid) Baseline Endline 10.8 75.5 12.3 85.1 – 13.0 17.9 57.1 4.6 9.1 3.2 20.0 0.4 56.3

1.3 8.9

4.8 57.5

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4  Changes in Socio-economic Status of the ENRICH Programme Participants

figure of 8.9% in the study villages. The importance of solar electricity is clearly reflected in Atulia union. The lowest level of grid electricity connection at endline, at 24% of the households, is reported from the sample village under Atulia union. But, a large portion of the households without grid electricity connection are covered by solar electricity. It can be seen from Table 4.2 that in Atulia there has been a steep rise in solar connectivity from only 12.3% at baseline to 68.9% at endline.

4.3  Access to Clean Water Ensuring access to clean water and access to proper sanitation facilities are two important components under the ENRICH programme health programme. Table 4.3 shows that in seven out of the ten study villages, all the households use tubewell water for drinking and in one study village (Nijgaon) around 98% of the households have access to tubewell water. Although there has been an improvement in this regard in the other two villages as well, a majority of the households remain without access to this source of water. In Dokhin Poschim Atulia, the use of tubewell water for drinking has increased from 0.1% in baseline to 17.3% in endline and in Joutho Khamar, this ratio has increased from 26.7% to 35.3% over the same period. Arsenic contamination of tubewell water has not been reported from any of the surveyed villages.

4.4  Access to Improved Sanitation Facilities Installation of sanitary toilets is an important component of the household utility services provided under the ENRICH programme. The programme raises awareness about the need for and supports setting up of sanitary toilets in the households of the participants lacking this facility. Not surprisingly, there has been a large positive change in this regard. This can be noted as a residual change due to activities of the Table 4.3  Percentage of households with access to tubewell water for drinking Union Aslampur Atulia Auliapur Durgapur Panchgaon Sayedpur Saghata Simanto Tetlee Wagga

Study village Poschim Khodezabagpara Dokhin Poschim Atulia Sarkarpara Farongpara Konkiari Hachupara Hasilkandhi Sadarpur Nijgaon Joutho Khamar

Baseline 99.4 0.1 – 98.4 97.4 96.3 95.2 98.8 98.6 26.7

Endline 100.0 17.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 98.0 35.3

4.5 Adoption of Family Planning

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Table 4.4  Distribution of households by availability of toilet facility

Union Aslampur

Study village Poschim Khodezabagpara Atulia Dokhin Poschim Atulia Auliapur Sarkarpara Durgapur Farongpara Panchgaon Konkiari Sayedpur Hachupara Saghata Hasilkandhi Simanto Sadarpur Tetlee Nijgaon Wagga Joutho Khamar Overall

Baseline Kancha or no latrine 22.5

Endline Pucca or slab Kancha or no Pucca or slab latrine latrine latrine 77.5 2.0 98.0

12.2

87.8

0.0

100.0

– 24.8 79.0 10.4 58.5 58.8 5.1 39.8 30.8

– 75.2 21.1 89.6 41.5 41.2 94.9 60.2 69.2

17.3 10.7 6.7 20.7 8.0 8.7 2.7 41.3 11.8

82.7 89.3 93.3 79.3 92.0 91.3 97.3 58.7 88.2

ENRICH programme. This development can occur as a result of improved income or simply behavioural change brought about by participation in the ENRICH programme. However, for the poor, the installation of sanitary toilets is subsidised. A lack of access to proper sanitation facilities increases the risk of diseases such diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, and so on. It is observed that in the sample villages, the proportion of households with pucca or slab latrine has increased from 69.2% in baseline to 88.2% in endline. Access to proper sanitation facility is the highest in the village under Panchgaon union, where 93.3% of the households have pucca or slab latrine at the time of the endline survey (Table 4.4).

4.5  Adoption of Family Planning Table 4.5 shows the proportion of the households in which at least one member of a household was using a family planning method when the baseline and endline surveys were conducted. It is found that the rate of adoption of a family planning method has increased from 47.8% to 55.7% from baseline to endline. In some of the unions, the use of family planning method has increased sharply during the period. In Farong para village under Durgapur union, use of family planning method increased from 1.6% at baseline to 73.3% at endline. A sharp jump in the adoption of family planning practices is also observed in Panchgaon union, where the adoption rate was close to zero during the baseline but increased to 31.3 at the time of endline survey. However, in three out of 10 sample villages, the use of family planning method has declined. It is worth noting that up to the time of this (endline) survey, family planning was not included as a component of the ENRICH programme. Given GoB’s continued effort to reduce the pace of population growth, it is advisable that the ENRICH programme includes a family planning component in its health service package.

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4  Changes in Socio-economic Status of the ENRICH Programme Participants

Table 4.5  Adoption of family planning methods Union Aslampur Atulia Auliapur Durgapur Panchgaon Sayedpur Saghata Simanto Tetlee Wagga Overall

Study village Poschim Khodezabagpara Dokhin Poschim Atulia Sarkarpara Farongpara Konkiari Hachupara Hasilkandhi Sadarpur Nijgaon Joutho Khamar

Baseline 61.1 60.1 – 1.6 0.0 30.4 22.9 73.7 29.7 55.5 47.8

Endline 58.7 62.7 78.7 73.3 31.3 38.7 69.3 56.0 39.3 49.3 55.7

Note: Table 4.5 reports the proportion of households in which at least one member has been using a family planning method when the baseline and endline surveys were conducted

Table 4.6  Percentage of households with the ENRICH programme health cards Union Aslampur Atulia Auliapur Durgapur Panchgaon Sayedpur Saghata Simanto Tetlee Wagga Total

Study village Poschim Khodezabagpara Dokhin Poschim Atulia Sarkarpara Farongpara Konkiari Hachupara Hasilkandhi Sadarpur Nijgaon Joutho Khamar

Frequency 94 59 72 23 142 56 109 56 102 65 778

% 62.7 39.3 48.0 15.3 94.7 37.3 72.7 37.3 68.0 43.3 51.9

4.6  P  articipation in the ENRICH Programme Health Scheme Health is an important component of the ENRICH programme service delivery package. The ENRICH programme seeks to ensure primary medical care for all its participants. The health card is an instrument for accessing health services, as detailed out earlier. The health card entitles a household to all the ENRICH programme health care services for all its members. Table 4.6 shows the percentage of the households which have purchased the ENRICH programme health card. Overall, 51.9% of the surveyed households in the 10 study unions have purchased the ENRICH programme health cards. However, there is a significant variation across unions in terms of purchase rate—the lowest is

4.7 Determinants of Participation in  the ENRICH Programme Health Scheme

39

observed at Farong para village (15.3%) under Durgapur union and the highest is observed in Konkiari village (94.7%) under Panchgaon union.

4.7  D  eterminants of Participation in  the ENRICH Programme Health Scheme The health scheme of the ENRICH programme focuses on providing primary healthcare services to all the households in ENRICH unions, which are deprived of such services. But, about 52% of the households said during the endline survey that they had bought the ENRICH programme health cards. As noted earlier, a health card costs only Taka one hundred and ensures prescribed health services for all the members of the household for a year. In order to understand the factors behind a household’s decision to purchase the ENRICH programme health card, a dummy variable has been used as a dependent variable that equals 1 if a household had purchased the health card or 0 otherwise. As in the case of participation in the ENRICH programme education scheme (next section), it is seen from the regression analysis that accessing credit for income generating activities (ENRICH-PO or PO membership for short) is the key variable. In addition, dummy variables for income quintiles are also included to capture the effects of income on decision to purchase the ENRICH programme health card. In column (1) of Table 4.7, only these variables are included along with district dummies. It is clear that PO membership, implying as noted earlier that they take IGA loans, is one of the key factors in influencing a household’s decision to purchase a health card. The influence of the PO membership status remains statistically significant across all columns. All the income quintile dummies appear with a positive sign indicating that households in the higher income groups are more likely to purchase the health card compared to the lowest income group. Three out of four income quintile dummies are statistically significant. In column (2), the regression is repeated with a set of characteristics for the household head. The results relating to the main variables of interest remain similar except the 4th income quintile dummy. On the other hand, all the coefficients relating to the characteristics of the household head are statistically insignificant. Therefore, the main determinants of health card purchase are PO-membership and the level of income of the households. It may be noted that all the households, regardless of whether they have purchased health card or not, are visited by health visitors, while a household without a health card cannot access other services provided under the scheme. However, all households can also access services at health camps, which are conducted at regular intervals. These facilities may have encouraged the households to take it easy regarding purchase of health cards.

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4  Changes in Socio-economic Status of the ENRICH Programme Participants

Table 4.7  Determinants of participation in the ENRICH programme health scheme (1) ENRICH-PO membership Second quintile Third quintile Fourth quintile Fifth quintile

(2) 0.10*** (0.02) 0.05 (0.04) 0.09** (0.04) 0.06* (0.04) 0.08** (0.04)

Age of household head Age squared of household head Household head’s education: SSC or above Household head’s education: Class 6 to 9 Household head’s employment: Skilled agriculture

(0.03) −0.03

Household head’s employment: Elementary occupation District dummies Constant R-squared N

(3) 0.10*** (0.02) 0.04 (0.04) 0.09** (0.04) 0.05 (0.04) 0.06 (0.04) 0.01 (0.01) −0.00 (0.00) −0.001 (0.05) −0.01 (0.03) −0.01

Yes 0.52*** (0.05) 0.19 1500

(0.04) Yes 0.29** (0.14) 0.19 1500

* p