Research Reports (2004): Economic Studies, Vol - XXI
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Item The very poor who participate in microfinance institutions and those who never did: a comparative analysis(BRAC, 2004) Matin, ImranDespite the general consensus that the very poor have not been adequately reached by existing microfinance institutions, very little focussed research exists on the financial market participation of the very poor in general and their microfinance institutions (MFI) participation, in particular. In this paper, we shed some light on these issues by comparing the very poor who manage to participate in microfinance institutions and those who never did, by making use of a unique dataset that emerged out of the baseline study of a new BRAC programme targeted at the very poor. We find that the poorest who participate in MFIs are relatively better off than those who never participated, the causal relationship is not clear. In that sense, the targeting exclusion condition used by BRAC to exclude the poorest who were members of MFIs seems to be appropriate. However, we also find that the poorest who participate in MFIs also borrow more from informal sources suggesting that a complementary, rather than a substitution relationship exists between the two sources of finance. Moreover, the intensity of microcredit taking is lower and tendency to drop out from one and not rejoin other MFIs is higher among the very poor who participate in MFIs compared to MFI participants coming from other poverty grou ps. Given that reaching the very poor remains to be an important challenge that the global microfinance industry intends to address, a better understanding of the overall financial market participation of the very poor and exploring the differences between the very poor who manage to participate in microfinance programmes and those who do not can be important for guiding policy and practice.Item Struggling TUP members: lessons from case studies(BRAC, 2004-10) Matin, Imran; Noor, Marufia; Shihab, Abu MItem Marketing scenario and sustainability of vegetable enterprise of specially targeted ultra poor in North Bengal(BRAC, 2004-08) Barua, ProloyThe study aimed to explore the marketing system of vegetables grown by the members of the specially targeted ultra poor (STUP) to identify problems and to suggest solutions for sustaining. Data were collected from 79 second cycle vegetable enterprise households Jaldhaka and Syedpur upazi/as of Nilphamari district and through questionnaire survey in May 2004. Marketing system comprises of marketing channel and marketing functions. The marketing channel was found to have undergone changes in the second cycle compared to first cycle. The members became more market oriented and more middlemen entered the marketing channel in the second cycle compared to first cycle. There were no major problems other than land renewal. About 46% of the vegetable cultivators faced land renewal problems. Land mortgage instead of land lease may be considered, as this type of land contract can be made for 2-3 years, and is preferred by the vegetable growers. BRAC may consider purchasing land and leasing it out to the STUP members, which would be a long- term solution.Item Delivering inclusive microfinance with a poverty focus: experiences from Brac(BRAC, 2004) Matin, ImranItem Child labour: an exploration from the perspective of extreme poor children(BRAC, 2004-07) Karim, Raihana; Rahman, Hasanur; Zaman, Shahaduz