Session Name: Access to Knowledge, Network & Markets

Case Study: Bangladesh, BRAC

Presenter: Asif Saleh

Senior Director

BRAC and BRAC International

BRAC in 30 seconds

2

Key Facts and Figures

Mission: To empower people and communities in situations of poverty,

illiteracy, disease and social injustice. Our interventions aim to achieve

large scale, positive changes through economic and social programmes

that enable men and women to realise their potential.

Founded in: Bangladesh, 1972

Program coverage: 126 million worldwide

Countries: 11

Bangladesh budget: US $495million

Self Generated: 71%

The BRAC Model

3

BRAC

Investments

BRAC

Development

Programs

BRAC

Enterprises

•Large-Scale Market Exit

•Financial Sustainability

•Hedge against liquidity crisis

•Financing Support

Health

Livestock & Fisheries

Agriculture & Food

Retail

Green Enterprises

Printing & Packaging

Health

Education

Finance

Human Rights

Gender

Equality

Environment

Community

Empowerment

Food &

Agriculture

Social Advocacy

Banking with

SME focus

Asset Management

Investment Banking

& Stock Brokerage

Housing Finance

Mobile Banking

•Marketable goods

•Social Mission

•Social Mission

Fi

nanc

ing

Supp

ort

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Soci

al M

issi

on

Internet & Software

The BRAC Advantage

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Non-Profit

Development

Programs

50% of enterprise

surplus is reinvested

and cross-subsidized

across the enterprises

themselves

Returns on investments

reduce donor dependency

Socially

Responsible

Investments

50% of enterprise surplus

supports BRAC’s

Expenditures including

development programs

For-Profit

Social

Enterprises

Returns on investments

provide hedge against future

liquidity crisis

Synergy

Cross Collaboration

Cross Subsidy

Continuous Innovation

Holistic Support

Social enterprises

(inputs producers)

Micro-franchising

Self-employed & micro-

entrepreneurs support

Producers Workers Self-

employed

- Job opportunities for workers

- Inputs for producers

- Business model - Access to finance - Training

- Capacity building (training) - Access to finance - Other services (legal, health)

Social enterprises (markets for

outputs)

Producers

Workers Producers

- Job opportunities for workers - Access to market for

producers

INTE

RV

ENTI

ON

TY

PE

OF

SU

PP

OR

T

BEN

EFIC

IAR

IES

BRAC Social Enterprises

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18 social cause-driven enterprises across the country

Aarong: BRAC’s Flagship Social

Enterprise

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Develops, promotes and sustains crafts in Bangladesh, with 68% market share

65,000 rural artisans employed (80% are women) in 2,000 villages across Bangladesh

25,000 independent cooperative groups and traditional family-based artisans sell their crafts through Aarong

Directly benefits around 320,000 people

Aarong

Technical Support

Quality Awareness

Knowledge Sharing

Training

Exporting handicrafts

Infrastructure

& systems

Research and Product

Development

Branding/ Marketing

Innovation

Targeting the

Ultra-Poor : The

Ladder out of Extreme

Poverty

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Evaluation of the STUP Programme

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Comparison between participants of the STUP programme and non-participants showed that for STUP members1-

All women participated in the labor force by the end of the programme

Participation significantly increased self-employment and decreased wage-labor; many clients engaged in both self-employment and wage labor

Large increase in hours worked

Hours worked increased for women who did not face any asset constraints before enrolment, indicating that entrepreneurship training had positive impact on self-employment returns

Ultra-poor surpassed other poor in terms of occupational choice and welfare

Transformative impact: ultra poor households started investing in productive assets outside the programme as well

1Oriana, Bandiera, et al. Can Entrepreneurship Programs Transform the Economic Lives of the Poor?

December 2011.

BRAC Economic

Development

Model – The

Ladder Approach

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BRAC Micro franchisees – Army of

Caregivers

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Innovations: The Micro franchising

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110,000 micro-franchisees worldwide (including 97,000 community health promoters)

Active in health, agriculture, livestock, poultry, sanitation, and land measurement

Caregivers get training from BRAC on messaging and sell low-cost health products (some BRAC-manufactured) with a mark up

Over 2000 Artificial Insemination entrepreneurs are supporting rural farmers and national cattle breed through loans, free training, on-going supervisory support, refresher training and supplies from BRAC

Franchising provides important social benefits not provided by existing market, and generates extra income for entrepreneurs

Current Challenges

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Scaling up is always the toughest of tasks

Not all the borrowers become entrepreneurs

Regulatory Challenges of starting Social Enterprises

Opportunity cost for the health volunteers are

rising and needs increased product portfolio

Results

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126 Millions Lives Touched around the world

Arguably one of the most successful and

effective NGO model

10 million people having access to finance

BRAC Is The Largest Global Anti-Poverty Organization,

And It's A Secret – Fast Company

[BRAC] has probably done more than any single body to upend the

traditions of misery and poverty in Bangladesh. It is by most

measures the largest, fastest-growing (NGO) in the world—and

one of the most businesslike - Economist

Important Lessons

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Innovation + Scale = Effective Change

“Small is beautiful, but big is necessary”- Sir Fazle Abed

One size does not fit all

Programmes need to adjust based on context, resources and need

One intervention is not always enough

Holistic approach to combat poverty from all fronts

Continuous innovations

Special programmes developed for the ultra poor, whose needs were

not being adequately addressed by existing programmes

The role of social enterprises and socially responsible investments

Paving the path for sustained economic growth

Advice to Other Countries?

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Key issues to consider

Geographical and political

context

Social challenges

Available resources

Other providers

Unmet needs