Today s Program. The Graduation Project: Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative for the Poorest. Inauguration and Welcome. 10:30 am. CGAP Keynote Address

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1 Today s Program 10:30 am 11:00 am Inauguration and Welcome CGAP Keynote Address The Graduation Project: Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative for the Poorest October 15, 2009 A Human Development Centre/Trickle Up Project 11:15 am Program Overview and Objectives 11:30 pm Sharing Experiences 12:30 pm Graduation Certificate Distribution 12:30 pm Thanks and Valediction Congratulations to all our participants!

The Pro Poor Innovation Challenge In 2006, Trickle Up was selected from more than 250 applicants for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Pro Poor Innovation Challenge.

their families to graduate out of chronic food insecurity.

Empowering 300 women to start sustainable livelihood activities, establish savings groups and graduate to become borrowers from banks.

It will also help ensure that school aged children go to school, and that families have an awareness of key health issues and access to health services from registered medical facilities such as

The Project Model Working in partnership with Human Development Centre, Trickle Up has established a strong model for graduating the poorest from food insecurity and creating sustainable livelihoods

Selection of project members The working area of Canning II Block and its entrepreneurs were selected based on data from the United Nations Human Development Report for West Bengal, the Backward

Enterprise Selection Enterprises included goat rearing, sheep rearing, pig rearing, a combination goat or sheep and duck rearing and small trading businesses.

Trainings were delivered by field staff, and focused on animal care, building appropriate animal housing, and vaccinations.

2 The Pro Poor Innovation Challenge In 2006, Trickle Up was selected from more than 250 applicants for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Pro Poor Innovation Challenge. Trickle Up launched a project in West Bengal, India, to enable 300 women to start sustainable livelihood activities, establish savings groups, and eventually link with banks offering loans to enable their families to graduate out of chronic food insecurity. Funded by CGAP, the objective of this project was to initiate an incomegenerating process for the poorest by providing conditional seed grants and training and establishing savings groups. Empowering 300 women to start sustainable livelihood activities, establish savings groups and graduate to become borrowers from banks. As a result of the project, every household will have the ability to earn sufficient funds to afford food, clothing and shelter without going out of their village. It will also help ensure that school aged children go to school, and that families have an awareness of key health issues and access to health services from registered medical facilities such as sanitation and family planning. Lastly, households will have access to government programs and other facilities, as well as the ability to reduce unwanted expenditures. The Project Model Working in partnership with Human Development Centre, Trickle Up has established a strong model for graduating the poorest from food insecurity and creating sustainable livelihoods and strong savings habits. These are the main elements of this model. Selection of project members The working area of Canning II Block and its entrepreneurs were selected based on data from the United Nations Human Development Report for West Bengal, the Backward Village list produced by the government of West Bengal, the Poverty Wealth Ranking, as well as various selection criteria determined by the project. Enterprise Selection Enterprises included goat rearing, sheep rearing, pig rearing, a combination goat or sheep and duck rearing and small trading businesses. Entrepreneur Training Entrepreneurs participated in formal group trainings tailored to their selected enterprise. Trainings were delivered by field staff, and focused on animal care, building appropriate animal housing, and vaccinations. Asset Transfers For those participants establishing animal husbandry businesses, animals were purchased by the project team and distributed to entrepreneurs after completion of the Business Plan. Subsistence Allowance One unique element of this project is a subsistence allowance that each entrepreneur receives weekly to help sustain their families until their livelihoods begin to generate profits. Savings Groups Each participant joins a self help group, which help the women learn how to handle, count and save money. Health Worker On a monthly basis, a health worker monitored the health of the family, referred them to local clinics in case of emergency, and provided valuable health information on vaccinations, maternal and child health, maintaining a hygienic household, and malaria and HIV/AIDS. Veterinarian and Animal Friends A hired veterinarian provided support, and community level workers, called Animal Friends, gave daily first hand care and oversight to livestock, and made routine primary checkups.

Learnings from the Pilot Learning the business of savings and credit should precede any livelihood activity Livelihood planning needs attention to individual specific (skills/proclivities, support

Clients were able to reduce their health expenses through increased usage of government facilities and thereby reduce the number of loans taken Increased knowledge in asset management led to improved

Her hard work and risk taking has brought her success.

block. Rani and her husband worked as agriculture labour to meet their family s expenses. The vagaries of labour work meant that feeding the family was a difficult task for the couple.

She was unsure at the start if goat rearing was the best option. Making a choice in trade was new to her. Rani got eight goats in two phases along with handholding support from the project staff.

Along with goat rearing, she learnt how to save money in self help group.

She was told that SHG could provide loan in times of need and shall also helps women in getting their entitlements like health facilities provided by the government and NREGA job card.

3 Learnings from the Pilot Learning the business of savings and credit should precede any livelihood activity Livelihood planning needs attention to individual specific (skills/proclivities, support systems, asset base, etc) business prototypes considering local context. Clients were able to reduce their health expenses through increased usage of government facilities and thereby reduce the number of loans taken Increased knowledge in asset management led to improved birth rates and fewer deaths of livestock assets With project support, Rani started with 4 goats and today is the proud owner of 22 pigs and 4 goats. Her hard work and risk taking has brought her success. She is sending her children to school and is an active member of the SHG Rani Sardar a mother of two children lives in Gangacheli village, which is one of the underdeveloped villages in Canning II block. Rani and her husband worked as agriculture labour to meet their family s expenses. The vagaries of labour work meant that feeding the family was a difficult task for the couple. Consequently, they suffered many days of hunger. Rani was one among the three hundred families who were chosen for piloting the project. She was unsure at the start if goat rearing was the best option. Making a choice in trade was new to her. Rani got eight goats in two phases along with handholding support from the project staff. To address the immediate need of the family, subsistence allowance was provided to Rani to help tide over days of paucity of food. Along with goat rearing, she learnt how to save money in self help group. Being an active member of Sikharani Swanirbhar Goshthi, she understood that fighting together against odds is easier than struggling alone. She was told that SHG could provide loan in times of need and shall also helps women in getting their entitlements like health facilities provided by the government and NREGA job card. Nirmal dada and Nadira didi (project staff) have shown me the way to happiness Rani Sardar, Trickle Up participant in India As time passed Rani s herd grew and she made a first sale of five goats for Rs 3,500. By then she was convinced that animal rearing was a good and steady option for income. With the money from the sale of goats and an additional loan of Rs 750 from the SHG she bought two pigs. According to Rani, the project staffs are the friends in need who helped change her perspective of goat rearing from mere domestic purpose to commercial mode. In the recent past she sold nine pigs for Rs Currently, she has 22 pigs and four goats. She has invested a major part of her earned money in fish cultivation in her small pond which remained unused earlier. Last November she tried paddy cultivation using SRI method in 0.33 acres of leased land, but nature did not favour her to reap a good harvest. However, she is keen to apply the new technique next time and take a risk again. Discussion in the SHG has motivated her to send her daughters to school and construct a sanitary latrine with the support of Panchayat. Rani does not give much credit to her luck; she believes that her present success is the result of continuous handholding support of project staff and her hard work. Rani says, This is not the end, it is just the beginning.

The Project Location The working area of Canning II Block (South 24 Parganas, just south of Kolkata in West

Backward Village list produced by the government of West Bengal.

is the implementing partner in this project.

Trickle Up worked in close collaboration with three partners in this project.

the work of the project; the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor is the funding agency, and BRAC provided

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is a consortium of 33 public and private funding organizations

CGAP was established in 1995 to support the development of a sustainable microfinance sector and is housed in the

4 The Project Location The working area of Canning II Block (South 24 Parganas, just south of Kolkata in West Bengal) was selected based on data from the United Nations Human Development Report for West Bengal and the Backward Village list produced by the government of West Bengal. The Project Partners Human Development Centre (HDC) is a local nonprofit organization based in West Bengal, and is the implementing partner in this project. Founded in 1986, HDC also implements health projects and runs a microfinance program in their working area. Trickle Up worked in close collaboration with three partners in this project. Human Development Centre is the implementing partner agency the organization on the ground directly overseeing the work of the project; the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor is the funding agency, and BRAC provided technical assistance in the design of the project. The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is a consortium of 33 public and private funding organizations working together to expand poor people's access to financial services. CGAP was established in 1995 to support the development of a sustainable microfinance sector and is housed in the World Bank. Today, CGAP serves as a global resource center for microfinance, providing advisory services and information to a wide range of stakeholders. BRAC is one of the largest microfinance institutions in Bangladesh. In addition, BRAC provides sector specific enterprise training and support to its member borrowers in poultry and livestock, fisheries, social forestry, agriculture and sericulture.

Performance Indicators: Project MIS Women who have graduated 176 (59%) Economic Capital of Women Working knowledge and skill in enterprise management 243 (81%) Have

Capital of Women Awareness of specific social problems and their solutions 244 (81%) Ability to care for family s hygiene and sanitation 213 (71%) Undertaken one

age pension 16 (100%) Participants having voter s ID card 268 (89%) Performance Indicators: Participant Self Assessments Women who have graduated 258 (86%) Economic

or more business activity 246 (82%) Social Capital of Women Know and articulate the objectives of the SHG 279 (93%) Awareness of specific social problems and their

5 Performance Indicators: Project MIS Women who have graduated 176 (59%) Economic Capital of Women Working knowledge and skill in enterprise management 243 (81%) Have assets worth over Rs (82%) Savings over Rs (39%) Diversified into one or more business activity % Have credit ratio =/> 1:1 115 (38%) Social Capital of Women Awareness of specific social problems and their solutions 244 (81%) Ability to care for family s hygiene and sanitation 213 (71%) Undertaken one linkage with government program 243 (81%) Households having NREGA card 219 (73%) Households received Indira Awas Yojana 24 (100%) Eligible participants receiving old age pension 16 (100%) Participants having voter s ID card 268 (89%) Performance Indicators: Participant Self Assessments Women who have graduated 258 (86%) Economic Capital of Women Graduated woman who can continue without support 230 (77%) Have assets worth over Rs (82%) Savings over Rs (58%) Diversified into one or more business activity 246 (82%) Social Capital of Women Know and articulate the objectives of the SHG 279 (93%) Awareness of specific social problems and their solutions 283 (94%) Ability to care for family s hygiene and sanitation 261 (87%) Undertaken one linkage with government program 242 (81%) Undertaken two linkages with government program 63 (1%)

6 Thank you! Thank you to all project participants who took the challenge to do something new for a better tomorrow. Our gratitude to CGAP for extending support, especially, Dr Syed Hashemi, for being with us through all critical and happy moments of the project. Our appreciation for Amin bhai, Rabeya and Sagarika, of BRAC, for their wholehearted support. Thanks to the project team of HDC for their efforts and hard work. Who We Are HDC s mission is to lead our communities by providing integrated, culturally respectful mental health and addiction services that foster hope, self determination, and recovery. Trickle Up empowers people living on less than $1 a day to take the first steps out of poverty, providing them with resources to build microenterprises for a better quality of life. Access to financial services is a fundamental tool for improving a family s well being and productive capacity. Our mission is to help alleviate poverty by advancing access to finance. BRAC strives to bring about positive changes in the quality of life of the poor people of Bangladesh.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY BUILDING A JUST WORLD. Summary. Quantitative Data Analysis

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY BUILDING A JUST WORLD. Summary. Quantitative Data Analysis BUILDING A JUST WORLD RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This appendix accompanies Building a Just World, published by The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission, available at www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/