Welcome to Presentation on Social Transfers in Bangladesh Phnom Penh, February 2013 1.

Welcometo

Presentation on

Social Transfers in Bangladesh

Phnom Penh, February 2013

1

Country Context

2

Demographic Information In numbers In percentageTotal Population in Bangladesh 149,772,364 100Male 74,980,386 50.06Female 74,791,978 49.94

2

Relevant informationArea 147,570 sq kmPopulation Density 1,015 per sq kmPer Capita Income 818 USDPopulation Growth Rate 1.37Stunting rate 41 %Wasting rate 16 %

• Country Context

3

Country context cont…

Poverty rate in percentageYear 1991-92 Year 2010

Overall poverty rate 58.8 31.5Extreme poverty 41.0 17.6

Source: Sixth Five-Year Plan (SFYP) 2011 – 2015

Bangladesh is on-track to achieve the poverty reduction targets of MDG 1 SFYP estimated 56 million people still below poverty line

SOCIAL TRANSFER PROGRAMMES IN BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh there are currently more than 90 social safety net programmes in operation under 14 different ministries and departments

4

Description of major social transfer programmes in Bangladesh

Objectives:

• Helping create assets at individual, household and

community levels to reduce food insecurity;

• Helping individuals and households protect their assets when

various types of shocks occur;

• Helping individuals and households to use their existing

resources more effectively, and thereby helping them to

cope with various types of risks;

• Directly raising economic growth rates by reducing inequity.5

Types of Social Transfer Programme

• Provision of special allowances for the various

underprivileged sections of the population, so that the poor

and disadvantaged people can tackle the poverty effectively;

• Employment generation through grant or micro-credit and

different fund management programmes;

• Food security based activities to better manage the

consequences of natural disasters; and

• Provision of education, health and training to make the

excluded community more capable and self-reliant.6

Main Social Transfer Programmes in Bangladesh (1EUR=100 TK)

7

Name of Programme/Project

Total no. of beneficiaries

Social transfer/ben./month

Duration Objective Remarks

VGD 0.75 M 750Tk (30 Kg Rice)

24 Months Increased Food Security for Ultra-poor Women

MoWCA, DWA

Allowances for Lactating Mother

0.077M 350Tk 12 Months Nutrition Support for Lactating Mother

MoWCA, DWA

Allowances for Pregnant Mother

0.112M 350Tk 12 Months Nutrition Support for Pregnant Mother

MoWCA, DWA

FLS 0.08M 400Tk 20 Months Increase Food Security MoWCA, DWA

Old Age Allowances 2.475M 300Tk Whole Life To Support Old Age Poor People

DSS

Widow Allowances 0.920M 300Tk - To Support Insolvent Poor Widows

DSS

Honorarium for Insolvent Freedom Fighter

0.15M 2000Tk Whole Life To Support Financially Insolvent Freedom Freighter

DSS

8(Cont.)

Name of Programme/Project

Total no. of beneficiaries

Social transfer/ben./month

Duration Objective Remarks

Disabled Student Allowances

0.019M 300-1000Tk Student Life To Support Disabled Students

DSS

Secondary School Stipend for Female Student

1.821M 150Tk & 200Tk Student Life To Assist Female Students to be more educated

Ministry of Education

Allowances for the Financially Insolvent Disabled

0.286M 350Tk Whole Life To help survival of disabled community

DSS

Protection of Children at Risk

0.028M 350Tk Student Life To help survival of Children at Risk

Ministry of Education

Higher Secondary School Stipend for Female Student

0.281M 250Tk Student Life To Assist Female Students to be more educated

Ministry of Education

Stipend for Primary School Student

7.869M 100Tk Student Life To Enhance Primary Education and increase literacy rate

Ministry of PrimaryEduc

ationPrimary School Feeding (World Bank)

1.290M Food(Equivalent 60Tk)

Student Life (Primary)

Nutrition Support for Primary Students

Ministry of Primary

EducationPrimary School Feeding (EC) 0.200M Food

(Equivalent 60Tk)Student Life

(Primary)Nutrition Support for Primary Students

Ministry of Primary

Education

MECHANISMS FOR GOB-DEVELOPMENT PARTNER (EU) COORDINATION

In the case of the EU-funded Food and Livelihood Security project

there are several mechanisms for GoB-EU coordination:

• Programme Steering Committee (PSC) chaired by Secretary of

MoWCA

• Project Implementation Committee (PIC) for FLS project

chaired by Director General of Department of Women Affairs

• Project Coordination Committee chaired by Project Director

9

TARGETING MECHANISMS IN BANGLADESH

In the case of Food and Livelihood Security project there has been:• Geographic targeting to identify percentage of ultra-poor in each district using WFP poverty mapping• precise criteria for beneficiary selection• the process for selecting beneficiary has been bottom-up, democratic and participatory. Meetings were called for all classes and corners of the village population. Villagers made a list of the female-headed households and marginal and share-cropper households of that village. House-to-house visits were then carried out by village representatives and field workers and family survey forms were completed.

10

11

The beneficiary selection criteria for the 50,000 ultra-poor women are

Households with excessive food insecurity, i.e. household members are unable to afford three meals per day Real landless households i.e. households that do not have any land or have less than 0.15 acre land Female-headed household (women who are divorced or deserted or widowed or abandoned or who have disabled husband or do not have earning household member or do not have any source of income) Women aged between 18 to 55 years.If all four criteria are met, then women from ethnic minorities receive preference.

12

The beneficiary selection criteria for the 30,000 marginal and share-cropper farmers are

Marginal Farmers or Share Cropper Farmers are defined as:

Farmers with minimum 0.05 acre of cultivatable land and maximum 1 acre leased land/ Share-Cropper Farmer Maximum 0.25 acre own cultivatable land and up to 1 acre rented land/ Share-Cropper Farmer.

DELIVERY MECHANISMS

13

In the Food and Livelihood Security projectEach ultra-poor female beneficiary receives cash transfers:• Tk.400/- subsistence allowance per month for 20 months• Tk.1000/- as cash grant for IGA inputs (one-time payment)• Tk.14,500/- as cash grant for productive assets. (one-time

payment)• Each marginal and share-cropper farmer receives cash

transfers:• Tk. 400/- subsistence allowance per month for 20 months• Tk. 4100/- as cash grant for IGA inputs (one-time payment)• Tk. 6500/- as cash grant for productive assets. (one-time

payment)

MODALITIES OF RECEIVING ALLOWANCES AND CASH TRANSFERS

• Beneficiaries are organized into groups of approximately 25 beneficiaries and hold meetings twice a month

• Each group has opened a group current account and savings account in a local bank in order to receive the group’s monthly subsistence allowances

• Tk. 50/- is retained from each beneficiary’s monthly Tk. 400/- subsistence allowance as mandatory savings

• Each beneficiary has also opened an individual bank account in order to receive his/her cash transfer for inputs and productive assets

14

NOTABLE INNOVATIONS

• In the EU-funded Food and Livelihood Security project there are two main notable innovations to improve the effectiveness of social transfers in the fight against hunger:

• Every beneficiary has an individual bank account for receiving cash transfers for inputs and productive assets

• Agricultural extension activities are being implemented through Farmer Field Schools to marginal farmers and share-croppers in order to improve their farm revenues and productivity to achieve food security

15

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF FOOD AND LIVELIHOOD SECURITY PROJECT

• The Food and Livelihood Security (FLS) Project in Bangladesh is funded by the European Union

• It is Implemented by the Department of Women Affairs (DWA), executed through the Ministry of Women & Children Affairs (MoWCA) of Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GoB)

• It was launched in February 2012 and has a duration of 27 months

• It is the European Union's 5th consecutive social safety net project executed through MoWCA in Bangladesh.

16

FLS OBJECTIVES

Long TermImproved food security of rural ultra-poor households in the

North-western districts of Bangladesh.

Short Term

50,000 ultra-poor female headed households and 30,000 ultra-poor marginal farmer and share-cropper households in the south-western part of Rajshahi Division have improved food security and livelihoods and are mainstreamed in the

overall development process

17

EXPECTED RESULTS

18

There are 4 expected results of the FLS project:-

• Result 1: Increased production and consumption of nutritious food. Multi-layered home gardens will be promoted in order to supply extra nutritious food and for earning income from the sale of the produce.

• Result 2: Improved household income and livelihood from non-agricultural activities. Landless households will be encouraged to increase and diversify their income sources and livelihood options by taking up one or more income-generating activities in addition to home gardens.

(Cont.)

• Result 3: Improved revenues and productivity for marginal farmers and share-croppers. Farmers will be involved in agricultural extension activities such as Farmer Field Schools through their farmers’ groups.

• Result 4: Increased social inclusion and community coherence. It is expected that by the end of the project, the women and their household members will be gradually removed from their position of social exclusion and will be mainstreamed into overall development interventions.

19

PROJECT COST (1EUR=100TK)

Estimated cost of the Project (In Lakh Taka)

• Total : BDT 223 Crore 33 Lakh • GoB : BDT 5 Crore 40 Lakh • EU : BDT 216 Crore • NGO Contribution : :BDT 1 Crore 93 Lakh

20

21

Visit of the Minister and EU Ambassador to FLS Distribution Ceremony of Monthly Subsistence Allowances

in Atrai, Naogaon

03 October 2012

THANK YOU!

22