Type: Research

Globalising Southern Approaches to Reducing Extreme Poverty: Policy Adoption of BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra Poor Graduation Program

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By Syed M. Hashemi and Aude de Montesquiou This paper explores how BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra Poor graduation program was globally adopted as a successful pathway for extremely poor households to build sustainable livelihoods and improve their conditions. It explores how this Southern model of development and transformation became an integral part of global knowledge. … Continued

Climate Adaptation Within Livelihoods and Poverty Programmes: Responding to Extreme Heat in India

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The authors of this paper are Shweta S. Banerjee (Country Lead India, BRAC International), Siraz Hirani (Senior Programme Management Specialist, Mahila Housing Trust), Boudewijn Weijermars (Technical Advisor, BRAC International), Ramesh Veluru (India Programme Officer, BRAC International) India is experiencing the effects of the current 1°C global warming. Heat waves, floods, and droughts are affecting the … Continued

Why We Should Think About More Than Cash When Seeking to Eradicate Poverty – Nature Careers Podcast

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This podcast and interview with Catherine Thomas was originally published by Nature on January 26, 2024. The Working Scientist podcast series from Nature features an episode with Catherine Thomas, a researcher, who is involved in a project in the West African country of Niger, where she is helping its poorest citizens in an extremely innovative … Continued

Multidimensional Coaching for Socio-Economic Advancement of People in Poverty (EU Commission)

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This publication is a Science for Policy report by the Joint Research Center (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. The purpose of the report is to highlight a relatively new approach to social assistance for people in poverty, focusing on multidimensional coaching. The approach represents a paradigm shift in social assistance design, as … Continued

Building Stable Livelihoods for the Ultra-Poor

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This research was originally published on the J-PAL site and was last updated in October 2023. A multifaceted livelihood program that provided low-income households with a productive asset, training, regular coaching, access to savings, and consumption support led to large and long-lasting positive impacts on their standard of living. Additionally, recipient households were better positioned … Continued

Effectively Scaling Up Promising Approaches: What Evidence is Necessary and How to Ensure It Is Used to Improve Lives

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This text is from Chapter 25 of the Oxford Handbook of Program Design and Implementation Evaluation. By Annie Duflo, Heidi McAnnally-Linz, Anu Rangarajan Abstract This chapter describes an approach to scale-up that focuses on delivering effective programs to increase the reach of program services. Program scale-up can occur along a number of dimensions—organizations can expand … Continued

Scaling the Graduation Approach

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In the past five years, many governments have adopted Graduation and incorporated it into existing programmes, making them more comprehensive and better positioned to meet the long-term needs of those living in extreme poverty. Governments have the mandate, the infrastructure, and the established systems to transform the lives of their most vulnerable people, as well … Continued

Designing and Delivering Government-Led Graduation Programs for People in Extreme Poverty

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Maxwell Gollin, Carolina de Miranda, Taddeo Muriuki, Steve Commins While governments face significant obstacles in designing and delivering approaches for people living in extreme poverty, a substantial body of research shows that programs can achieve transformative impact by addressing the socioeconomic barriers that often exclude this population. An increasing number of governments are adopting and … Continued

Social Protection in the Developing World

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By Abhijit Banerjee, Rema Hanna, Benjamin A. Olken and Diana Sverdlin-Lisker [October 2022] “Abstract: Social protection programs have become increasingly widespread in low- and middle- income countries, with their own distinct characteristics to match the environments in which they are operating. This paper reviews the growing literature on the design and impact of these programs. … Continued

Clearing Pathways to Prosperity With a Livelihood Building Program in Kenya – BOMA

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Michael Carter (University of California, Davis); Geyi Zheng (University of California, Davis; Nathan Jensen (International Livestock Research Institute), April 2022 Abstract: Livelihood-building programs combine training and assets for rural households with the least means to build a sustainable and independent income. Since 2018, we have been evaluating such a program in Samburu, Kenya among women … Continued