The Microfinance Review

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Microfinance and Rural Development: The Bangladesh Way


Affiliations
1 National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India
     

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The definition of poverty has evolved from consumption of calories to deprivation of income to lack of assets to sustainable livelihoods (Carney, 1998; DFID, 1999) to a more recent multidimensional poverty index (Alkire and Santos, 2014). Among the strategies for poverty alleviation, the Graduation Approach pioneered by Hashemi and De Montesquiou (2011) on behalf of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is the most popular one. This approach lays emphasis on promotion of livelihoods, social protection and better access to microfinance for the poor. While declaring 2005 as the year of micro credit, Kofi Annan, the then United Nations Secretary-General, remarked, ‘sustainable access to microfinance helps alleviate poverty by generating income, creating jobs, allowing children to go to school, enabling families to obtain health care, and empowering people to make the choices that best serve their needs’.

Keywords

Microfinance, Rural Development.
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  • Alkire, S and M E Santos (2014): “Measuring Acute Poverty in the Developing World: Robustness and Scope of Multidimensional Poverty Index”, World Development, Vol. 59, No. C, pp.251-274.

  • Carney, D (1998): Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: What Contribution Can We Make?,DfID, London.

  • Department for International Development (1999): Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets, DFID, London.

  • Hashemi, S and A De Montesquiou (2011): Reaching the Poorest: Lessons from Graduation Model, Focus Note No. 69, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, pp.1-15.

  • Muhammad (2018): “Rise of the Corporate NGO in Bangladesh”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 53, No. 39, pp.45-52.

  • United Nations Development Programme (2018): Human Development Indices and Indicators 2018: Statistical Update, UNDP, New York. Accessed at http://undp.orgon November 2, 2018.

  • Yunus, Muhammad (2017): A World of Three Zeroes: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, Zero Net Carbon Emissions, Hachette Book Publishing, Gurgaon.

  • World Bank (2017): Bangladesh Continues to Reduce Poverty but at Slower Pace, October 24; Accessed at http://worldbank.orgon November 2, 2018.


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  • Microfinance and Rural Development: The Bangladesh Way

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Authors

A. Sirisha Reddy
National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad, India

Abstract


The definition of poverty has evolved from consumption of calories to deprivation of income to lack of assets to sustainable livelihoods (Carney, 1998; DFID, 1999) to a more recent multidimensional poverty index (Alkire and Santos, 2014). Among the strategies for poverty alleviation, the Graduation Approach pioneered by Hashemi and De Montesquiou (2011) on behalf of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is the most popular one. This approach lays emphasis on promotion of livelihoods, social protection and better access to microfinance for the poor. While declaring 2005 as the year of micro credit, Kofi Annan, the then United Nations Secretary-General, remarked, ‘sustainable access to microfinance helps alleviate poverty by generating income, creating jobs, allowing children to go to school, enabling families to obtain health care, and empowering people to make the choices that best serve their needs’.

Keywords


Microfinance, Rural Development.

References