In collaboration with the Institute of Microfinance, IGC Bangladesh organized a seminar on entrepreneurship and poverty on December 18, 2011 in Dhaka.
Event Type:
Workshop
In collaboration with the Institute of Microfinance, IGC Bangladesh organized a seminar with the above title on December 18, 2011 in Dhaka. Prof. Robin Burgess presented the results from an IGC experimental impact evaluation of Brac's entrepreneurship programme that provides asset and training to the ultra-poor women in rural Bangladesh. The study found that such interventions lead to large shift in hours from labor work towards self-employment and increased total number of hours worked, and that these were associated with big increase in income of the participants.
With research presentations on topics covering education, governance, trade and exclusion, and in collaboration with Economic Research Group, IGC Bangladesh organized a daylong conference on December 20, 2011 in Dhaka.
Event Type:
Conference
With research presentations on topics covering education, governance, trade and exclusion, and in collaboration with Economic Research Group, IGC Bangladesh organized a daylong conference on December 20, 2011 in Dhaka. With an aim to disseminate research findings to a wide audience, the conference brought together local and international researchers, private sector representatives and policy makers, including Honourable Minister for Food and Disaster Management Dr. M.A. Razzaque, and Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Atiur Rahman.
The policy brief sheds light on the causes and nature of seasonal hunger in northwest Bangladesh, a region which has been particularly prone to seasonal poverty and hunger for a long time. The authors examine the impacts of alternative measures currently in place to mitigate seasonal hunger in this region, and stress on the need for a balance between 'protection' and 'promotion' measures. They also warn that the coastal regions in the south are emerging as new poverty pockets, especially due to adverse impacts of climate change.
In Bangladesh, during the annual seasonal famine, incomes decrease by 50-60% and expenditures on food drop by 10-25%. The government has instituted food or cash-for-work
programs, while NGOs attempt to enhance income and employment mostly through credit and to a lesser extent through job training and marketing initiatives. However, there is a need for
long term solutions rather than consumption-smoothing interventions.
