Sulaiman and Gulesci (2008) identified several limitations in the evaluation of the STUP model in the first phase. Impact of the program on the households targeted by the CFPR II program.
Socio-demographic profile
Chapters covered in the section on transforming structures and processes include empowerment (Chapter 9), gender knowledge, perception, attitudes and behavior among the villagers surveyed (Chapter 10) and the Gram Daridro Bimochon committee (chapter 11). NGO involvement among TUP households in both geographical areas was found to be significantly low compared to NP and NTP households.
Natural, physical and financial assets
Education: schooling and literacy
Health, health services and health-seeking behaviour
Food security and nutritional status
Maternal nutritional knowledge and child nutritional status
We hypothesized that the nutritional knowledge of mothers from selected CFPR households would also be related to the nutritional status of children. Maternal nutritional knowledge was a significant predictor (p<0.05 and p<0.01) of child nutritional status in terms of height-adjusted height for age, but only in children aged 6 to 23 months.
Vulnerability and social network
We found that the mothers of well-nourished children had a higher nutrition knowledge score compared to the mothers of underweight (i.e. weight-for-age) and stunted children (i.e. height-for-age), but not so in mothers of wasted (i.e., weight-for-height) children. Programs targeting rural women should therefore place more emphasis on improving the nutritional knowledge of mothers and take measures to effectively put this knowledge into practice.
Poverty and empowerment of women
This cross-sectional study, conducted on 4789 mothers and 5039 of their children aged 6-36 months, examined the level of maternal nutritional knowledge and children's nutritional status and the relationship between the two. The results from this study provide further support for the evidence that maternal nutritional knowledge is important in reducing long-term undernutrition in children (height for age) up to 23 months of age.
Knowledge, perception, attitudes and behaviour of the villagers toward gender
Findings show that poorer women have less power in terms of ability to influence decision-making and political and legal consciousness. However, due to their economic insecurity, ultra-poor women were more mobile, could comfortably communicate in the public sphere, and had more control over their own income.
GDBC profile study
This suggests that GDBC may lead to a reorganization of rural transfer networks, where they would transfer more resources to STUP members and non-members would transfer more to the poor outside the STUP program. Looking at in-kind transfers leads to similar results, and furthermore, we find that the correlation between being a member of the GDBC and the total number of in-kind assistance provided to the poor was insignificant if the GDBC was recently established.
Food consumption pattern and dietary diversity
However, there was a positive and significant correlation between the two for the more established GDBCs.
Employment and income
The number of sources of income in STUP II areas was found to be lower than that of STUP I areas for all wealth groups; However, the number of sources of income was higher in the better-off household groups in both geographic areas. The number of income sources was also found to be positively related to per capita income in both geographic areas, although the relationship is stronger in STUP I areas, indicating that diversification of income sources may be a way important to increase the income of TUP households, which is one of the primary objectives of the CFPR.
The case of the OTUPs
But the TUP households in the STUP I areas were more likely to earn money by engaging children and elderly members to earn money.
CFPR II baseline survey areas
BaselineSurvey Districts
The Bangladesh livelihoods
BRAC's development strategy seeks to strengthen ALL assets of the poor through various components of its development program with an emphasis on sustainable finance. By developing human and social capital, BRAC will also focus on the lack of influence and access to structures and processes that often limit the livelihoods of the poorest: ie.
Coverage and support package of “Pushing down” activities
Livelihood Assets
Socio-demographic Profile
It was found that the prevalence of disabled members is higher in TUP households in STUP II areas. There were more single-member households among TUP households in both geographical areas.
Natural, Physical and Financial Assets
However, no statistically significant difference was found between the TUP households from the STUP I and STUP II areas in the case of Figure 2. As expected, the share of household lending was significantly lower for the TUP households in both STUP I and STUP II area.
Education: Schooling and Literacy
The net enrollment rate at the primary and secondary education level reflects a dismal state of secondary education of children from ultra-poor families (Table 2). However, a sharp contrast is observed between TUP and NTP families in terms of the level of education of the heads of the family (Figure 7).
Vulnerability
Health, Health Services and Health-seeking Behaviour
A significant proportion of respondents, especially in the STUP II areas, did not seek treatment or resorted to self-treatment (Table 15). About half of TUP households in STUP II areas fell into this category, compared to more than a quarter of households in STUP I areas. A relatively smaller proportion of TUP households (25–34%) sought treatment from qualified allopathic physicians compared to the other two groups (28–41% and 40–57% for NTPs and NPs, respectively); the share is smaller in TUP households in the STUP I areas.
Contraceptive practice was greater among TUP families of STUP I areas (63%) than STUP II areas (51%). About 50% of TUP households either did not seek treatment or resorted to self-treatment in STUP II areas, compared to 28% in STUP II areas. About 15% of TUP families in STUP I and 20% of families in STUP II were hospitalized for treatment.
Food Security and Nutritional Status
Food consumption status by poverty groups (%)
Recent food security by poverty groups (%)
Year round food security by poverty groups (%)
Mean (±SD) Anthropometrics of under-5 children (0-59 Months) by various wealth groups
Nutritional status of under-five children (0-59 Months) by age and poverty groups (%)
Nutritional status of under-five children (0-59 Months) by gender and poverty groups (%)
Mean (±SD) Anthropometrics and Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) in Adolescents (10-14 years) by various wealth groups
Mean (±SD) anthropometry and chronic energy deficiency (CED) in adolescents (10–14 years) by different wealth groups. Mean (±SD) anthropometry and chronic energy deficiency (CED) in nonpregnant men and women by different wealth groups.
Mean (±SD) Anthropometrics and Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) in Men and non-pregnant women by various wealth groups
Maternal Nutritional Knowledge and Child Nutritional Status
Logistic regression was performed to examine the independent contribution of the mother's nutritional knowledge index on the nutritional status of the child. However, the models show no effect of mother's nutritional knowledge on nutritional status of children (i.e. weight-for-age and weight-for-height) in any of the age groups. Effect of mothers' nutritional knowledge on weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ).
Our results show that maternal nutritional knowledge (ie, index) is positively associated with the nutritional status of children under 24 months of age in terms of stunting (ie, height for age). As expected, only a few of the individual variables that made up the nutritional knowledge index were found to be independently associated with nutritional status. Studies show significant associations (Webb and Block 2003) and lack of associations (Grant and Stone 1986) between maternal nutritional knowledge and child nutritional status.
Vulnerability and Social Network
Food insecurity index
Loads of variable factors with the main component are quite high, reflecting good consistency in variables.
Transforming structures and process
Poverty and Empowerment of Women
TUP women in STUP II areas were more empowered compared to TUP women in STUP I areas. TUP households in STUP II areas scored significantly higher compared to those in STUP I areas (Table A6, Annex 1). Compared to TUP households in STUP I areas, all other households were significantly more empowered in terms of decision-making (except for TUP households in STUP II areas) and legal and political awareness.
However, negative association was seen in terms of mobility, interaction in the public sphere and control over income. In addition, a positive association was found between mobility, ability to communicate in the public sphere and control over income for these households. However, no clear pattern was observed in terms of mobility, ability to interact in the public sphere and financial autonomy.
Knowledge, Perception,
Attitudes and Behaviour of the Villagers Toward Gender
There was a significant difference in age of respondents between GQAL and NGQAL areas. Respondents' perception of various forms of violence against women was also observed. Seventy or more percent of respondents considered all forms of violence against women listed in Table 9 to be violence.
The analysis also shows that 24% of the respondents had a more positive attitude towards GAMW (Fig. 2). Two percent of respondents in GQAL areas received and paid in kind and ornaments as dowry. The majority of respondents were against violence against women and believed that the perpetrators should be punished.
GDBC Profile Study
28% of GDBC members reported performing their religious activities regularly as opposed to 24% of non-member village elites. Members and non-members represented in other social committees of the village equally. Regression analysis was conducted to determine the correlates of the total value of transfers from the village elite to the poor.
In column (2), the interaction term between being a non-member of the GDBC and the creation of a new GDBC in the village allows to see if the effect of having a new GDBC is different from non-members. In column (2), the interaction term between being a non-member and having a new GDBC in the village was almost zero, implying that the negative correlation between being a non-member and the total value of transfers to STUP members exists regardless of the establishment of GDBC. If individual i has not been a member of the GDBC in village v, then he/she is much less likely to provide non-material assistance to STUP members.
Livelihood and outcomes
Food Consumption Pattern and Dietary Diversity
A checklist of food items was used by the enumerators to help respondents recall the names and amount of food consumed. As expected in the context of rural Bangladesh, the total amount (g) of food intake was significantly higher (p<0.001 and p=0.034) in better off households compared to poorer households (NTP vs TUP) within the same STUP areas, as well as between families (TUP vs. TUP) (p<0.001) of the two areas (Table 1). On average, about two-thirds (62.3%) of the amount consumed by families were cereal-based foods.
Within the same area, the share of cereal-based food in the diet (percentage of total intake) was significantly higher (p<0.001 and p=0.028) in TUP households than that of NTP households. Significant differences (p<0.001) were observed in the amount of pulse uptake between TUP families of the two sites (eg, 3 vs. 6). On average, about four-fifths (80.1%) of the calories consumed by households were from grain-based foods.
