Qualitative exploration of factors affecting progress in antipoverty interventions: experiences from a poverty-reduction program in Bangladesh

TY - JOUR

T1 - Qualitative exploration of factors affecting progress in antipoverty interventions

T2 - experiences from a poverty-reduction program in Bangladesh

AU - Kabir, Ashraful

AU - Maitrot, Mathilde Rose Louise

N1 - © 2019 The Author(s).

PY - 2019/4/16

Y1 - 2019/4/16

N2 - Understanding and addressing the factors that affect progress in antipoverty interventions is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In Bangladesh this topic has been largely explored through quantitative approaches, and we believe in-depth qualitative analyses of household dynamics in the context of antipoverty interventions is lacking. This article addresses this lacuna. Based on 49 focus group discussions and 15 case studies, we analyse livelihood dynamics of beneficiary households within a national extreme poverty alleviation program. We identify five determining factors to the effectiveness of antipoverty interventions: 1) health shocks, natural hazards, and vulnerabilities; 2) household demography; 3) inappropriate IGA planning, implementation, and monitoring; 4) dependence/inaction; and 5) political and social instability. We argue that livelihood-based antipoverty initiatives often fail because they do not address these five factors, and call for a comprehensive approach that prioritises them in program design.

AB - Understanding and addressing the factors that affect progress in antipoverty interventions is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In Bangladesh this topic has been largely explored through quantitative approaches, and we believe in-depth qualitative analyses of household dynamics in the context of antipoverty interventions is lacking. This article addresses this lacuna. Based on 49 focus group discussions and 15 case studies, we analyse livelihood dynamics of beneficiary households within a national extreme poverty alleviation program. We identify five determining factors to the effectiveness of antipoverty interventions: 1) health shocks, natural hazards, and vulnerabilities; 2) household demography; 3) inappropriate IGA planning, implementation, and monitoring; 4) dependence/inaction; and 5) political and social instability. We argue that livelihood-based antipoverty initiatives often fail because they do not address these five factors, and call for a comprehensive approach that prioritises them in program design.

KW - antipoverty programme

KW - Bangladesh

KW - extreme poverty

KW - livelihood

KW - NGO

KW - poverty reduction

KW - qualitative study

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064569154&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/23311886.2019.1602986

DO - 10.1080/23311886.2019.1602986

M3 - Article

VL - 5

JO - Cogent Social Sciences

JF - Cogent Social Sciences

IS - 1

M1 - 1602986

ER -