FINAL
Working paper 1
Conceptualising Livelihoods of the Extreme Poor
January 2002
Nasrin Sultana
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am immensely thankful to PROSHIKA and DFID Bangladesh for undertaking such a project,
which has the aim of poverty eradication in Bangladesh.
I would like to express my earnest gratitude to Ms. Clare Hamilton Shakya, Regional Coordinator- DFID and research guide of this study who was the constant guide of the study and
provided administrative support for the work. She also provided insightful comments on this Ist
phase of the study.
I am deeply indebted to Dr. Janet Seeley, Academic adviser of this study. She made valuable
contribution to this paper. She provided valuable insights and academic support to me. I am
grateful for her stimulating guidance and encouragement.
My heartfelt gratefulness to Dr. Iqbal Alam Khan, Deputy Director-IMEC, PROSHIKA and
research guide of this study for his critical review of earlier versions of this paper. This study
was under his direct supervision from the stage of planning at the conceptual level to
development of this paper.
I want to express my gratitude to Mr. Gautam Shuvra Biswas, Co-ordinator of the study who is
in UK now. We started the work together and I missed him every moment while I was writing
the paper.
I am thankful to Mr. Abu Naser, Co-ordinator IMEC-PROSHIKA for providing all necessary
administrative support to do the work smoothly.
I would like to express my thanks to my team members Zubair Ali Khan, Munshi Israil Hussein,
Salim Ahmed Purvez, Kamruzzaman Tapan, Sinora Chakma, Mayee, Ahmed Borhan for their
continue support in all aspects, and for inspiration and enthusiasm for this paper. We shared the
field experience, which provided the insights for the thematic ideas of this paper. I have found
the team spirit to be the main strength of this study.
Special thanks also goes to my ex- colleagues Krazai Chowdhury and Nazneen Akhter Banu
(who are not with us now) for their active support in this study.
I also want to convey my regards to my colleague Fatima Jahan Seema for her valuable
comments and suggestions on this paper.
I am thankful to all of my colleagues in IMEC, especially Koly, Shapna, Dalia, Samsul Haq
Mandal, Selim, Moudud who always encouraged me and provided all support.
I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the villagers who shared with us their livelihoods,
which helped us to gain insight into rural life.
I am immensely indebted to Mr. Faruq Ahmed who has taken the responsibility for the final
editing of this report.
Finally, I am indebted to my family for their encouragement of my work.
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Acronyms
ADC-Area Development Centre
BBS- Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
BRAC-Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
CHT-Chittagong Hill Tracts
DFID-Department for International Development
EIG-Employment and Income Generating
EP-Extreme Poor
FHH-Female Headed Household
GIS- Group Information System
GO-Government
HDI- Human Development Index
HPI-Human Poverty Index
ILO-International Labour Organisation
IMEC-Impact Monitoring and Evaluation Cell
LLP-Low lift pumps
MLLP-Mini low lift pumps
MSTW-Mini Shallow Tube-wells
MTR-Mid Term Review
NFPE-Non-formal Primary Education
NGO-Non-Government Organisation
SEED Small Economic Enterprise Development Program
SL-sustainable Livelihood
STW-Shallow tube-wells
ULS -Urban Livelihood Study
UPDP-Urban Poor Development Program
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Glossary
Bengali- Ethnic community
Chakma- Ethnic community
Christian- Religious community
Garo- Ethnic community
Hazong- Ethnic community
Hindu- Religious community
Muslim-Religious community
Sawtal- Ethnic community
Shanty bahini-Militia group in CHT
Zakat- Religious charity
Purdah- veil
Begar- no wage, only food
Puja- religious festival for Hindu community
Administrative Unit
Region
CHT-Region
District
Brammahnbaria
Comilla
Dhaka- District
Magura
Manikgonj- District
Mymenshing-District
Nawgaon- District
Rajshahi- District
Thana
AditmariDurgapur- Thana
Imatpur-Thana
Mirzapur
Saturia
Savar
Village
Bathuli- village
Hazrapur
Kaitta-village
Kalabagan
Kutubdia
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Contents
1. The Extreme Poor: a contested concept
1.1 Multidimensionality of Poverty
1.1.1 General Perception
1.1.2 Recent Understanding: other concepts

Entitlement

Social exclusion

Vulnerability

Rights based approach

Livelihoods approach
2.Definitions of the Extreme Poor
3. The Extreme Poor in Development Practice in Bangladesh
3.1 Dimensions and causes of poverty in Bangladesh
3.2 Identification of the extreme poor from a practitioner's view
4. The Extreme Poor as an Issue for Development Intervention: A
Case of PROSHIKA
4.1 Creation of a Provision for Inclusion
4.2 A Challenge for keeping the extreme poor included
5. Extreme Poor's Livelihoods: lessons from Initial field exploration
5.1 Issues Related with Extreme Poor
5.2 Other Relevant Issues
6. Conclusion
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1. The Extreme Poor: a contested concept
Introduction
The concept of the 'extreme poor' has been widely discussed in development discourse in recent
years. There is no universal definition of the extreme poor. The concept of the extreme poor is
not simple and it is not a single notion. It can be seen from different angles and it has links with
other concepts. The concept has been discussed in different ways and has been changed and
modified over time. In this section an effort has been made to understand the concept in its
different aspects.
1.1 Multidimensionality of poverty
To understand the multidimensionality of poverty the concept of the extreme poor has been
discussed here in the light of the general perception of the concept and also the recent
understanding about it.
1.1.1 General perception
The concept of the 'extreme poor' has been widely discussed in development discourse for a long
time. The general perception of the concept is basically based on economic factors. At the early
stages the economic factors were considered in measuring poverty while some researchers and
development organisations have included non-economic factors in recent years. It would be
helpful to explain briefly the economic and non-economic approaches in understanding and
defining poverty.
The economic approach typically defines poverty in terms of income and consumption. The term
'income' is sometimes used loosely to refer only to the main component of monetary income for
most households. Generally, consumption, particularly calorie intake, depends upon income but
sometimes it varies due to the influence of other socio-economic factors. However, it is difficult
to define it because it differs among societies, communities, and even households. For example,
in Bangladesh, the standard calorie intake is 2100-2200, but it is 2300-2400 for the other South
Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and India. Moreover, if the expenditure increases then calorie
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intake decreases. Obviously an economic approach to the definition of poverty gives rise to some
criticism:
 Firstly it does not cover all factors associated with poverty.
For example, social, climatic or infra-structural factors can influence or interrupt individuals or
households income. All these are related with the deprivation trap (Chambers 1983), which
makes people vulnerable and pushes them below the poverty line.

Secondly, it cannot be standardised. Considering the indicators that are used with the
economic approach like income or consumption vary within countries, communities,
societies and between individuals.
A unique income level cannot be set for the all countries. Consumption depends on family sise,
income, physical efficiency, nature of work etc. People’s consumption rate is reduced at time of
crisis.

Thirdly, it cannot be estimated accurately.
In general, people are reluctant to disclose their income to others. It is often more difficult in the
rural areas, particularly with people who are self-employed. They are not familiar with the
estimation process and are not used to keeping records. In rural areas, people have a number of
income sources like gardening in the homestead land, poultry and livestock, collecting
vegetables as well as fuel, and casual fishing. They may also produce something like crafts. A
portion of their production is consumed, so that they never consider it as their income. Due to
these limitations, it is tried to estimate income using expenditure and consumption. But still it is
not an accurate technique to estimate income.

Fourthly, it is difficult to standardise the income level.
It is critical to compare the income level in different countries. In contrast, begging is a request
for alms or charity for oneself. The act of begging is understood differently in different cultures,
but it is strongly associated with both poverty and dependency and widely stigmatised. But if we
consider income to measure or understand poverty, it does not give us a clear picture. For
example a beggar may earn more than the poverty level income, but he/she will be treated as
poor.

Finally, indicators set by the outsiders and general people’s role is passive
Most of the indicators considered under the economic approach are measurement indicators and
these types of indicators set by the researchers, economists and the planners. The ordinary people
or the respondents play a passive role in this process. So that recipient’s judgement does not get
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reflected through this type of measurement. For example, some one earns more than the
minimum set amount of poverty measurement. But due to a chronic illness, s/he has to spend one
portion of his/her income regularly, which seriously affects his/her living or might make him/her
vulnerable. Another example can be cited here. If a person has a number of daughters, and for
each one he/she has to give a dowry at marriage, it will affect their level of income. These are
not considered in measuring poverty.
To overcome these difficulties, some new indicators are introduced under the non-economic
approach to understanding poverty.
Non- Economic Approach
The non-economic approach involves a broader conception of poverty and deprivation than does
the definition typically adopted under the economic approach.
A number of concepts of poverty can be considered under the non-economic approach like living
standard, basic needs, inequality, relative poverty, subsistence, subjective, human development
index (HDI), human poverty index (HPI) and so on. Under the non-economic approach,
emphasis has been given on some non-income indicators like housing quality, nutritional status,
access to services, assets holding etc. However, in recent years, analysing poverty has begun to
include a wide range of factors such as vulnerability, isolation, social exclusion, powerlessness,
personal dignity, security, self-respect, ownership of assets etc.
Actually, all the factors associated with both economic and non-economic approaches considered
in the poverty concept are equally important and have an active role in understanding the concept
of extreme poverty. In fact, all the economic and non-economic factors are relative and
conditional, which, create ill being. Ill-being is multidimensional and refers to different sorts of
bad experience. Lack and want are material; hunger, pain, discomfort, and exhaustion are
physical; bad personal relations, exclusion, rejection, abuse, isolation and loneliness are social;
vulnerability and fear relate to insecurity; and helplessness, frustration and anger reflect
powerlessness (Narayan et al 2000).
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The above discussion can be summarised by starting that to understand the poverty concept only
economic factors are not enough to get a holistic picture. It is equally important to consider the
non-economic factors, which have a very crucial role in poor people’s livelihoods. Over time the
thinking process has changed to take different non-economic factors into consideration. An
attempt has been made to explain the limitations of economic approach and the importance of
non-economic factors in this section.
1.1.2 Recent Understanding: other concepts
To explain the multidimensionality of extreme poverty it is necessary to look at the other related
concepts. From the previous discussion it has been seen that some other non-economic factors
get attention in measuring poverty, which are included in some related concepts. In recent years
some related concepts are considered for getting a holistic picture about the concept of extreme
poverty. The major related concepts are: entitlement, social exclusion, vulnerability, rights based
approach and livelihoods approach. Brief descriptions of these concepts are given below to
explain the co-relation between these concepts and the concept of the extreme poor.
 Entitlement
According to Sen, an individual or household owns a set of resources and it is exchanged to
acquire control over commodities. Sen’s concept of ‘entitlement’ refers to the complex ways in
which an individual or a household command resources (Sen, 1988).
Entitlement has two dimensions: endowment and exchange. An individual or a household is
endowed with a set of resources, which creates the availability of the economic options for the
individual or the household. The resources are as follows:

Material resources: the sets and stores of value, which include money as well;

Human resources: the skill and capabilities of people within a household, including the
age, gender, education and skill status, and health and nutritional condition of household
members;

Social resources: the set of relationships, which an individual or household has with other
individuals, households and organisations, which may be used to maintain or improve
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their situation. These are regarded as “claims” for assistance with food, credit, labour or
productive resources or services from kin, neighbors, labour groups, patrons, landlords
and employers, from government or from NGOs and the international community;

Common property resources: natural resources, which may be shared by different kinds
of households either with clearly defined property rights, or adjudged as national
common property.
Figure 01:
Entitlement
(set of resources & set of relationships)
Endowment or Ownership
(set of resources)
Exchange (set of
relationship)
The figure shows the process of entitlement. Actually endowment and exchange are the most
important factors relevant to people's livelihoods. Sen pointed out that it is the right to use
resources, rather than the existence of the resources themselves, that is characteristic of extreme
poverty. There is a mechanism, which influences (social network and /or social relationship)
exchange or enables people to use what they are endowed with. For example, if an individual
wants to sell labour, then s/he has to get someone who is willing to buy it. Nevertheless, there are
some people within the community who are unable to participate in the institutions patronised by
the majority and in a position to opt out of the mainstream institutions. They are socially
excluded within the society and their mobility as well as access is very limited. Due to this social
position, they are unable to exchange their resources or limited exchange. Beside these, the
factors like stress (a small, regular, predictable disturbance with immediate impact), trends and
seasonality affect the people’s livelihoods and make them vulnerable.
Through the above discussion, it is clear that individuals can improve the position within the
community, if he/she gets the opportunities to exchange the set of resources s/he has. On the
other hand due to the disruption in terms of food, and entitlement irregularity poor people face
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crises, which make them vulnerable. But people have some capabilities (1984; 1987) to
overcome this situation. Sen sees capability as ‘what people can do or be with their entitlement’.
 Social Exclusion
This concept focuses on the multi-dimensionality of deprivation, on the fact that people are often
deprived of different things at the same time. It refers to exclusion (deprivation) in the economic,
social and political spheres (De Haan, 1998). In a recent contribution, Sen (1998) welcomes the
social exclusion framework, because its focus is on ‘‘relational roots of deprivation… [bringing]
concentrated attention on features of deprivation’’, and ‘‘its practical influence in forcefully
emphasising the role of relational features in deprivation’’ (De Haan,1998). He believes that a
social exclusion framework reinforces the understanding of poverty as capability deprivation.
Social exclusion implies a focus on the relations and processes that cause deprivation. People can
be excluded by many different sorts of groups, often at the same time: landlords exclude people
from access to land or housing; elite political groups exclude others from legal rights; priests
may exclude scheduled castes from access to temples; minorities may be excluded from
expressing their identity; labour markets, but also some trade unions exclude people (nonmembers) from getting jobs; and so on. (De Haan 1998). All these have an influence in the
creation of vulnerability that affects people’s livelihoods.
The people who are in a position to opt out of the mainstream institutions and unable to
participate in the institutions patronised by the majority. Social exclusion would be counted on
the basis of inability to participate in the normal activities, but he/she would want to so
participate. However, although there is no doubt a close association between economic
stratification and the phenomenon of exclusion within a society. It seems clear that in principle
social exclusion can occur between groups that are distinguished from one another in terms of
religion, race, ethnicity or sex though they are not significantly distinguished economically. It
refers to the norms and processes that prevent certain groups from equal and effective
participation in the social, economic, cultural, and political life of societies.
Besides these aspects, it is equally important to know about the creation of social exclusion in a
particular situation. Christine Bradley’s framework describes five main mechanisms of exclusion
in order of increasing severity: geography, entry barriers, corruption, intimidation, and physical
violence (Bradley, 1994).
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Matrix: Creation of Social Exclusion
Exclusion Mechanism
Geography
Exclusion process
It can be a function of geography. Rural marginal areas people
isolated from different facilities like as, health, education etc.
It’s another important thing that they live in more precarious
area like riverbank, which can first be affected by floods and
also they are relegated to unproductive land, which compounds
cycle of poverty and exclusion. (e.g coastal area people of
Bangladesh)
Entry barriers
To acquire a good service it is generally needed to pay
something extra as transaction cost. The state’s mechanism
also creates some hindrances to get access to different assets
for having no adequate documents. (e.g chakma- lack of
document about ownership of assets)
Intimidation
Threat of harm from powerful to powerless is an important
cause. (e.g Use network in favor of rich during any conflict
between rich and poor)
Corruption
Corruption is a great problem to get access to any type of
service from any institution, which creates a problem both
financially and socially and makes insecurity. (e.g Institution’s
role in conflict between rich and poor)
Physical violence
Household, community and state be violent to the weak
people, which influence migration or isolation from
mainstream and being excluded. (e.g Election consequence)
Source: Narayan et.al., 2000
From the matrix it can be seen that different mechanisms have a role in the creation of exclusion.
People may become extremely poor through any of these processes.
Social exclusion disturbs social justice, social solidarity and dispersion of incomes. It conflicts
with equality of opportunity and inability to participate effectively in social as well as political
activities. Exploitation is a process that includes excessive demands and illegitimate acts by the
powerful. The excluded are more exploited by the powerful because of their social
condition/position. Exclusion and exploitation both enhance inequality within the society that
makes people vulnerable. In the case of accessibility, the excluded people have limited access to
different resources as well as institutions. It can be said in another way access to resources
declines due to social exclusion. For example, in general, some of the excluded are not allowed
to work in the villagers' house. Therefore, they are unable to convert their human assets to
financial assets and fail to meet food and other basic requirements and become poorer.
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 Vulnerability
Vulnerability implies the inability to cope with shock or misfortune. As defined by Chambers,
“Vulnerability has two sides: an external side of risk, and stress to which an individual or
household is subject and an internal side which is defencelessness, meaning a lack of ability to
cope without damaging loss” (Chambers 1989). The increases in insecurity and vulnerability
result in pervasive anxiety and fear. Not knowing, a lack of control, and inability to take
defensive action are important aspects of vulnerability.
Social vulnerability comes from insecurities related to social status caused by exclusion,
discrimination and lack of protection. Examples include the sudden destitution and stigma of
widowhood for women, the hardships created by divorce and dowry, vulnerability of the elderly,
the discrimination and harassment experienced by minority groups, and the exclusion resulting
from the breakdown of social ties.
 Rights based approach
A rights based approach is based on empowerment, equality of entitlement, dignity, justice and
respect for all people. It encourages poor people to demand services actively, according to their
own priorities, and thereby raises self- esteem and promotes autonomy. It implies obligations by
society to enable people to enjoy their rights and the mechanisms, which are in place for redress
if things go wrong.
DFID, in their target strategy paper on ‘realising human rights for poor people’ identifies three
underlying principles, which are integral to the realisation of all human rights and the
achievement of the international development targets:
Participation: enabling people to realise their rights to participate in, and get access to
information relating to the decision-making processes, which affect their lives.
Inclusion: building socially inclusive societies, based on the values of equality and nondiscrimination, through development that promotes all human rights for all people.
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Fulfilling obligation: strengthening institutions and policies that ensure that obligations to
protect and promote the realisation of all human rights are fulfilled by states and other duty
barriers.
Developing a rights perspective on livelihoods in public policy implementation will help to
enhance social justice (through the application of the principle of non-discrimination and the
emphasis on ‘equitable accountability’ of the Sate to all citisens). This will in turn increase social
sustainability through the reduction of social risk (a lower incidence and severity of political and
social risks and shocks, especially conflict). In turn this strengthens the long term security of
livelihoods (especially of poor people who are less able to avoid and cope with the impact of
civil conflict), and the sustainable realisation of economic and social rights.
It takes the broader view of social sustainability (referring to enhancing human and social
capabilities of present and future generations), and deals both with different dimensions of risk
(natural and economic shocks as well social and political) and with different strategies to manage
risks (mitigation and coping as well as prevention). These propositions maintain that:
strengthening the human rights content of public policy creates stronger and more equitable
public, civil and community institutions, which increases the capacity to prepare for and cope
with shocks.
No sustainable livelihood/ income generation effort will be sustainable in the long run without a
responsive governance system. It is the accountability factor, brought in through the human
rights framework that will substantively enhance such a responsive governance system.
Judicial action alone cannot ensure that all poor people can enjoy all human rights. New policies
might be required with effective programming to support legislation that breaks down barriers
based on gender, disability, ethnicity etc.
If poor people are to claim their rights they have to know about them. They have to know what
they are entitled to. Poor people, and poor women in particular, are often deprived of
information. Communication is as the centre of a (human) rights-based approach (van Weerelt,
2001).
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 Livelihood Approach
Sustainable livelihood approaches aim to focus more clearly on the priorities of the poor. They
are based upon evolving thinking about poverty reduction, the way the poor live their lives, and
the importance of structural and institutional issues. The principles are very important to
understand the concept clearly. These are:

People – centred: Sustainable poverty elimination will be achieved only if external support
focuses on what matters to people, understands the differences between groups of people and
works with them in a way that is congruent with their current livelihood strategies, social
environment and ability to adapt.

Responsive and participatory: Poor people themselves must be key actors in identifying
and addressing livelihood priorities. Outsiders need processes that enable them to listen and
respond to the poor.

Multi–level: Poverty elimination is an enormous challenge that will only be overcome by
working at multiple levels, ensuring that micro- level activity informs the development of
policy and an effective enabling environment, and that micro –level structures and processes
support people to build upon their own strengths.

Conducted in partnership: With both the public and the private sector.

Sustainable: There are four key dimensions to sustainability – economic, institutional, social
and environmental sustainability. All are important – a balance must be found between them.

Dynamic: External support must recognise the dynamic nature of livelihood strategies,
respond flexibly to changes in people’s situation. And develop longer-term commitments.
(Carney and Ashley 2000)
All discussions of these concepts are linked with poverty and draws attention to the multi
dimensional nature of poverty. Extreme poverty can be measured from a multi dimensional view,
because at both collective and individual levels multi dimensions of deprivation and
disadvantages are included in the concept. Social and economic factors reinforce each other in a
cycle of alienation and powerlessness. Poverty deprives people of access to resources, to
opportunities, and to contact with those who are more influential. Without resources,
opportunities and connections, economic mobility becomes exceedingly difficult. Hence extreme
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poverty can mean an alienation, which is determined by some other factors mentioned above and
also creates some deprivation, as stated before. Therefore, it can be said that one aspect of
extreme poverty is the lack of reciprocity in relationships.
2. Definitions of the Extreme Poor
To understand the situation of extreme poverty and who are the extreme poor, it is important to
reflect on various views of academics, institutions and organisations from the total poverty
discourse. It is important to know how far the multidimensional aspect covered by them. In this
section it has been discuss from the point of view of development literature. In this part an effort
has been made to identify the definitions or different indicators used by the academicians or
organisations to distinguish the poorest group of the society.
A matrix has been given below to show how the concept of extreme poverty has been used in the
development literature.
Matrix: different institutions and individual's conception about the Extreme Poor
Term
Used by different institutions and individuals
Very Poor
Primary Poor
Chronic Poor
Who are not able to earn sufficiently regular income to obtain
 necessaries of life for making both ends meet and
 live a state of chronic want. [Charles Booth ]

the below calculated income which is akin to Booth’s very poor category.
[Seebohm Rowntree]

when the lack of basic security simultaneously affects several aspects of people
lives, when it is prolonged.

Absolute poor
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as a level of minimum need, below which people are regarded as poor.
[ OECD]
 those people whose standard of living in below the minimum acceptance of
society
[Mack and Lanslly ]
 to meet nutritional requirements, to escape avoidable disease, to be sheltered, to
be clothed, to be able to travel, to be educated and to live without shame
[Amartya Sen]
‘assertions’ of experts about people’s minimum needs. It is characterised by
 severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water,
sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information.
 It depends not only on income but also on access to social services
[United Nations]
16
absolute core is itself relative to society. Every aspects of poor life's fully
dependent on other factors of the social system, e.g.
Relative Poor

Nutritional requirements are dependent on the work roles of people at different
points and in different cultures.

Avoidable disease is dependent upon the medical technology.
[Townsend 1985]
Hardcore Poor


who are forced to subsist on a daily calorie intake of less than 1740 calories
a per capita income that is less than three-fifths that of the poverty line.
[Rahman 1995]
Source: Gordon and Spicker, 1999.
The matrix shows that to identify the poorer groups all academicians and organisations generally
emphasise economic factors. But some of them also emphasise the non- economic factors.
It has been found that the development literature focuses on different issues in the discussion of
extreme poverty. The term absolute poverty has been explained more broadly than basic human
needs. The emphasis is not only on income, but also on non-economic factors by including the
opportunity of access to social services. In Bangladesh, for instance, Binayak Sen feels that to
identify the rural poverty a complete assessment of trends in rural poverty should take account of
several dimensions of poverty, of which income or consumption levels per head are only two.
Equally relevant are factors, such as access to adequate clothing and shelter, longevity, access to
health and education facilities and security of consumption levels from extreme shocks. In
relation with this, the European Union has emphasised basic security, lack of which may affect
several aspects of people’s life in the long term.
In addition, Narayan expressed the view in a World Bank study that security is a major concern
of poor people. In general, security implies stability and continuity. Vulnerability implies the
inability to cope with shocks and misfortune. Increases in insecurity and vulnerability result in an
all-pervasive anxiety and fear (Narayan et al. 2000).
There is also a debate on the merits of an absolute conception of poverty between Amartya Sen
and Peter Townsend. Sen (1983) argued that an absolutist core is the need "to meet nutritional
requirements, to escape avoidable disease, to be sheltered, to be clothed, to be able to travel, to
be educated----to live without shame’. Townsend (1985) responded saying that this absolutist
core is itself relative to society. Nutritional requirements are dependent on the work roles of
people at different points of history and in different cultures. Avoidable disease is dependent
upon the level of medical technology. The idea of shelter is relative not just to climate but also to
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what society uses shelter for. Shelter includes notions of privacy, space to cook, work and play,
and highly cultured notions of warmth, humidity and segregation of particular members of the
family, as well as different functions of sleep, cooking, washing and excretion.
Finally, multidimensionality of poverty is now well-recognised in the development discourse not
just as a measurement issue, but also as a matter of policy concern. To address the capabilities of
the poor, in recent years, the focus has also shifted to analysing poverty processes, which yielded
new analytical categories such as crisis coping capacity, personal insecurity, social exclusion,
and empowerment (Rahman, 2000). In a nutshell it can be said that despite the influence of
economic factors, over time the concept of extreme poverty gets attention in the multi
dimensional sense in development literature.
3. The Extreme poor in Development Practice in
Bangladesh
After looking at the general definitions and the idea of academics and institutions it can be seen
how the term is used in development practice in Bangladesh to understand better how it is
defined and used. Beside the conceptual idea, it is equally important to identify the basic
perception of the development practitioners because they are using the concept at the operational
level and they have to face the reality. So, it is necessary to have a look at how people use the
concept in different ways to define who they work with.
This part of the discussion is based on the practitioner's view. In this section the initiatives of
NGOs, Donors and the government are discussed. But before that it is also important to look at
the poverty status of Bangladesh at a glance. The discussions are given below:
3.1 Dimensions and causes of poverty in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, detailed estimates indicate that 27 percent of the rural population or roughly half
of those below the poverty line are in “absolute poverty”. The majority of them are illiterate,
own no agricultural land and survive in a situation of endemic insecurity often leading to land
eviction, expropriation of assets and physical violence and chronic food deficit. Before further
discussion, the following provides a view of the poverty situation of Bangladesh at a glance:
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18
In Bangladesh poverty persists with many dimensions. Different types of causes have an effect
on people’s livelihoods. There are a number of reasons and aspects that create and sustain
poverty such as:

Women's subordination within highly unequal gender relationships, which limit their access
to resources and recognition. Cultural practices such as dowry, early marriage and restriction
on female mobility (e.g. to markets) reinforce such inequalities.

Strong hierarchical organisations along lines of class, caste, social status, gender, religious
and ethnic identity, and a culture of difference and legitimised inferiority.

Hierarchical networks of patron-clients, which is pervasive. Poorer people are only able to
participate in these networks on terms, which deprive them of independent voice and choice.
Women have very limited access to such patronage. Vertical patron-client relationships
disunite poor people, and constrain horizontal, class or interest-based solidarity, which could
be mobilised to promote their longer term interest.

Class and patron-client relations are based on unequal landholding and the concentrated
control of key natural resources such as water bodies, etc.

Markets are often segmented, and frequently interlocking, because elite's and small interest
groups are able to wield monopolistic power at local higher levels.

Unequal access to government controlled the resources, services and administrative decisions
are perpetuated by elite and patronal influence.

Government officials operate within a culture of rent seeking and corruption, because of
strong state controls over resources, and the procedures through which they are allocated.

Political parties are dependent more on the local elite who mobilise their clients, rather than
the independent "voting power" of poor men and women. Because of this, politicians are less
likely to hold officials accountable, press for pro-poor reforms, and often have a vested
interest in the accumulation of resources and power by the elite.
Thus, government accountability is limited, and there are few incentives to address the needs and
rights of poor people, let alone women (Frankenberger 2001).
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19
3.2 Identification of the extreme poor from a practitioner's view
Now it can be seen how the concept is being used by different types of development practitioners
for identifying the extreme poor in the following matrix.
Matrix: Organisational Definition of the Extreme Poor
Organisation
Using term of
the
poorest
group
Definitions
Source/Reference
DONOR
DFID
World
Bank
Extreme
Poor
Bottom
Poor

have only up to 15 decimals of land.


suffer chronic food deficit and
take less than 1800 kcal per day.


per capita annual income is Tk.3757
annual household income is 18,785.



have neither cultivable land nor homestead.
have no income-earning member,
if earning male member is present but income is not
sufficient.
Most of the household heads are women
food needs managed by the begging dependency.
don't have access to institutional and non-institutional loans
have no access to NGOs memberships, which are ruled out
their last possibilities to receive assistance as poor.
no facilities of health care and less aware about illness &
treatment.
have low interaction with other social group
no importance to invitation by other in the society.







Rethinking Rural
Poverty
:
Bangladesh
(BIDS) ;1995
(adaptation
of
BIDS definition)
World Bank 1999,
Dhaka.
NGO
PROSHIKA
Extreme
Poor




Land up to 50 dcml. with disable member
Land up to 50 dcml. with female headed household
-Landless (0) male and female headed household
- Sell labour
(Baseline guidance
sheet,
PROSHIKA)
CARE
Extreme
Poor





have up to 50 decimal land
live in thatched house
have ten months food deficit
Both men and women sell labour round the year
Some of them begging for a living or involved in
sharecropping
have no educational facilities and if they have they don't
send their children to school for their household
problems
CARE (2000).
Frankenberger,
Drinkwater and
Maxwell .

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20

BRAC
Ultra Poor 
and

destitute





have access to NGOs loan but have no bank facilities
have only 10 dec. land
fully dependent upon seasonal wage labour
suffer from recurrent food insecurity
have no or very low productive assets
female headed household with single income earner
poor quality housing and
women with disabled husband
(BRAC, 2001)
Institution
BIDS
Extreme
Poor






Rahman
and
have only 5 decimal land and have no cultivate land
Hossain (1995).
food deficit are chronic
fully dependent on manual labour and have no
bargaining power
per capita income annually TK .2800
no access of health facilities
who lives in jupri or thatched house
The matrix has shown that different development practitioners identify the poorest groups in
different terms. After reviewing the different development practitioner’s (NGOs) literature, it is
found that they classify the poor in various categories, which sometimes are the same in
substance but different in name. To organise their Programmes they classify the poor in various
categories and it is important to find out on what basis they classify the extreme poor, because
that helps us to understand their definition of the ‘extreme poor’.
The role of NGOs and donors as development stakeholders are very important. So it could be
expected that to define the extreme poor, they should cover `basic needs', which include: the
minimal consumption requirements needed for a physically healthy population (food, shelter,
clothing, etc.), access to essential services and amenities (safe drinking water, sanitation,
transport, health and education), access to all adequately remunerated employment opportunities
and the satisfaction of needs of a more qualitative nature; a healthy, humane environment, and
popular participation in making decisions that affect the lives and livelihoods of the people and
individual freedoms. (ILO website)
It has been seen that, to define the extreme poor both donors and NGOs have given priority to
some criteria, for instance, food, shelter, clothing, safe drinking water, sanitation, health and
education. Over time different NGOs and donors have changed their views and included new
indicators but till now they have not included all the criteria mentioned above. The ILO has
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21
given priority to the ‘basic needs first’ idea they feel that to eliminate absolute poverty this is the
most effective way of creating sustained growth since the poorest would become active members
in society, would provide more effective labour, and increase the number of potential consumers
and savers.
But over time a new idea of rights based approach has emerged that, as mentioned before, is very
important in promoting the poorest people’s livelihoods. According to this approach it is not just
providing handouts (charity) but creating an environment for the empowerment of people, which
can enable them to secure their rights. While need based approaches help to identify the resource
requirements of particular groups, rights based approaches provide a means of strengthening
people’s claims to those resources. A rights based approach can promote the rights of
participation in social groups, communities and governance, as well as satisfaction of tangible,
material needs. It moves from a focus on the civil and political rights prioritised in ‘good
government’ policies to an holistic view of rights recognising the indivisibility of civil, cultural,
economic, political and social rights.
But all members of a society do not get the opportunity of active participation. Social exclusion
as a process refers to the socially determined structures and process, which impede the access of
some members of society to economic resources, social goods and institutions. For instance, the
poorest groups do not have access to different assets due to structural obstructions. Nevertheless,
not all the NGOs emphasise all the relative factors. Only the World Bank especially points out
that they don't have access to institutional and non-institutional loans and they don’t have access
to NGOs memberships. BRAC specially noticed the lack of scope to participate in mainstream
anti-poverty Programmes due disability, gender and old age. The World Bank points out their
low interaction with other social groups and the less importance given to them other people in
the society. BIDS has given priority to weak bargaining power. CARE has noticed the lack of
facility in accessing any bank loan. All NGOs and donors have identified that the poorest groups
are often landless and have low income.
In addition, development practitioners have not taken the multidimensional approach to examine
poverty. Women are generally more likely to suffer, but not all the NGOs targeted all groups of
women. Only PROSHIKA and BRAC put emphasis on women headed households or widows or
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22
separated women. But different specific excluded group women are not included. Other
definitions exclude other groups and individuals from being defined as the ‘extreme poor’.
This analysis has tried to draw attention to the existing situation of the extreme poor defined and
included in development practice in Bangladesh. The development practitioner’s target is the
inclusion of the poorest group of the society. They emphasise the poorest group people’s access
to resources; construct opportunity and active participation in society. But social exclusion and
vulnerability are two important factors that have a crucial role in creation and cultivating
poverty. So, it is necessary to discuss the two related concepts social exclusion and vulnerability
and the interrelation between them, which affects poorest people’s livelihoods.
4. The Extreme Poor as an Issue for Development
Intervention: A Case of PROSHIKA
This part of the discussion deals with practice and implementation. In previous sections
efforts have been made to conceptualise the theme of extreme poverty. To understand the
multidimensionality of the concept, other important relative concepts were also discussed. It has
been seen that both official and NGOs have distinguished idea about the extreme poor on their
total poverty distribution concept. However, it is important to see their actual attitudes on the
ground. It has been found that both the GOs and NGOs have considered the extreme poor.
Poverty alleviation strategies address issues concerning poverty in general. Both Government
and NGOs have developed Programmes for the extreme poor. The current five-year Plan (19972002) of the government and most of the NGO strategy papers address the extreme poor as an
issue for intervention.
It reveals that there is an inclusion option. But a study identifies that in Bangladesh, detailed
estimates indicate that 27 percent of the rural population or roughly half of those below the
poverty line are in “absolute poverty”(Rahman, 2000). Out of total 23.3 percent rural and 26.4
percent urban poor live in lower poverty line (BBS). This is not a very optimistic picture for the
strategies. For that reason serious thought needs to be given to the gap between policy and
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23
practice. Therefore, the following two main questions arise from the quest to know the gap
between poverty addressing strategies and the poverty situation:

What is the nature of the inclusion process created by NGOs?

Is the inclusion process enough to address the issues related to the extreme poor?
To find out the answers, it is important to know the NGO inclusion process and how far they
have been able to reach the poorest group. Here PROSHIKA has been taken as a case to see the
inclusion option of the extreme poor.
4.1 Creation of a Provision for Inclusion
In Bangladesh the current number of the poorest people is significant and they live a most
vulnerable life. Within the ranks of the poor the poorest group suffer from greater vulnerability
to periodic economic and social shocks. They live with lower asset levels, less employment
opportunities, greater consumption deficits, which are interlinked with social exclusion. Studies,
as well as impressionistic evidence, suggest that these poorest groups generally remain outside
the net of conventional micro finance programs.
But to ensure meaningful development it would be necessary to specifically target those groups
who are left out of the development net. There is a need to ensure their inclusion in development
programs. Hence, to reduce the vulnerability and social inequality it is important to consider
some Programmes for the stability of the extreme poor.
Firstly, there is a need to understand PROSHIKA’s attitude to the inclusion of the poorest group.
PROSHIKA’s model of sustainable development and poverty alleviation emphasises total
empowerment – not just economic empowerment, not just social empowerment but both these
combined in almost equal magnitude. PROSHIKA, therefore, follows a two-pronged approach
(five-year plan). It has been seen that in PROSHIKA’s current five-year plan there is much
emphasis on reaching the hard-core poor. PROSHIKA defines the poorest group as ‘hard core’
poor. They include who are completely landless, poor families having a disabled member, poor
women headed households with women as the only or main income earners, and men and
women engaged in selling labour.
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24
After knowing the attitude it is important to know the different policies of the organisations
through which Programmes are implemented in the field.
Option for the inclusion of the extreme poor in PROSHIKA policy and programme
PROSHIKA Five Year Plan, 1999-2004
sl
no
Title
1.
Human
Development
Training
Programme
Programme
This Programmes includes



Remarks
All PROSHIKA members can get the
opportunity.
Centrally organized training for
the staff of PROSHIKA and
other NGOs
Formal training for group
members
Non formal training for group
members
2.
Livestock
Development
Programme
Three interrelated Programmes are: It is clear that through RLF all members
including the extreme poor can get the
opportunity to be involved in these
 livestock production
programs.
 poultry production
 livestock support services
3.
Fisheries
Development
Programme
There are twelve category projects It is possible to include the extreme
under
fisheries
development poor especially in the case of group
Programme and group members loan.
can get loan from RLF.
4.
Occupational Skill Skill training to the rural poor side by All PROSHIKA members can get the
Development side with its universal education opportunity.
Programme
program
5.
Disaster
This Programme is for supporting All PROSHIKA members can get the
Management and the disaster-affected people to opportunity.
Preparedness
recover their human and socioProgramme
economic losses through postdisaster relief and rehabilitation
activities.
6.
Social
Forestry 
Programme




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Page 25 of 63
Strip plantation
Block plantation
Homestead plantation
Nursery development
Natural forest protection
It is possible to include the extreme
poor
25
7.
8.
9.
Irrigation
and
Tilling Technology
Service
Programme
 Shallow tube-wells (STW)
 Mini shallow tube-wells (MSTW)
 Low lift pumps (LLP)
 Mini low lift pumps (MLLP)
power tiller
Practical
Skill The Programme develop specialized
Development
skills through
Programme
 Providing
the
knowledge
required for identifying and
implementing
different
employment
and
income
generating activities.
 Developing the management
capacity of the group members
for different EIG activities.
Seri-cultural
Development
Programme
In the background part it has been
mentioned that through this ITTSP
programme landless and marginal
peasants are being empowered.
All PROSHIKA members can get the
opportunity.
It is designed mainly for the All group members are allowed to be
betterment of female group
members but male members are involved in this Programme
also included.
It concentrates on


10.
Apiculture
Programme
mulberry cultivation
Silkworm-rearing
This Programme introduced for a All group members are allowed to be
potential source of profitable income
and
employment
generating involved in this Programme
activities for the benefit of the
organized group members. It
concentrates on:

Bee- keeping
11.
Housing
Programme
The Programme is for assisting the
poor to build durable, sturdy, low
cost, environment-friendly dwelling
houses along with sanitary facilities
through the provision of credit and
technical assistance.
It can make significant contribution
to the reduction of vulnerability and
the empowerment of the poor.
12.
Health
Infrastructure
Building
Programme
This Programme is an initiative to All group members can benefit from
improve the health status of the poor this programme
through
providing
tube-wells,
sanitary latrines etc. Its also creates
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Page 26 of 63
PROSHIKA has built 30,506 houses. It
is not clear the process of distribution
among the group members, which
ensure the inclusion of the extreme
poor.
26
an opportunity of EIG activities for
the group members.
13.
Health Education PROSHIKA has undertaken a health All group members can get benefit from
Programme
education Programme for group this program
members.
14.
Small Economic
Enterprise
Development
Programme
(SEED).
The Programme is intended to Here it is clear that the extreme poor
develop
a
mechanism
for can also be involved in this Programme
relationship with the GDS-5 groups through getting employment opportunity
in the long run. It is for graduated
groups of PROSHIKA who would
like to go into bigger investment
projects. And they will create
employment opportunities for the
poor PROSHIKA can provide:
 Financial
and
technical
assistance
15.
Universal
Education
Programme
The components are:




16.
17.
All PROSHIKA members can benefit
from this programme
Adult literacy for non-literate
group members
Post literacy centres for the neoliterates
to
reinforce,
regenerate and sustain literacy
skills
Enrollment of children of the
poor households to enhance
further growth of literacy
Non-formal primary education
(NFPE) for the dropped-out and
not enrolled children of 8-11 age
group
Urban
Poor To reduce the vulnerability of urban
Development
poor and restore their rights to food,
Programme
clothing, education, and health a
number of initiatives have been
taken under UPDP.
In the background it has been
mentioned that according to Urban
Livelihood Study (ULS) 41.7% HH in
the urban slums are hardcore poor. So
it is clear that the extreme poor are
included here.
People's Cultural Formation of people's cultural All group members can get opportunity
Programme
troupes among the poor. The main from this programme
concern is

livelihood
Page 27 of 63
Empowerment of the group
members/poor through raising
people's awareness to work
27
collectively
resources.
18.
Development
Support
Communication
Programme
19.
Integrated
Multisectoral
Women's
development
programme
20.
Ecological
Agriculture
Programme
for
access
to
Its different components contribute
to the social empowerment of the
poor. It supports specially:
 to raise awareness of illiteracy
 Health development education
 Social discrimination
 Women's right
 good governance
Promotion of equal rights of women
through participation in the family,
society, and community and in
PROSHIKA programmes. It has
been working at three levels:
 PROSHIKA group level
 staff level
 with
other
women's
organisations
 Ecological agriculture on crop
land
 Homestead gardening
 Seed production
All group members can get opportunity
from this programme
All group members can get opportunity
from this programme
In the background of the Programme it
was mentioned that most of the rural
people are landless labourers, small
and marginal peasants who depended
on agriculture related activities for their
livelihood. Also have not been
categorised the group members
benefiting from these programmes.
It is not specified how the extreme poor
can be included in this process. In the
homestead gardening part, it focuses
on the improvement of health and
income of landless people, but it is not
clear how they will use the
opportunities, as they are landless.
In the end of three sections there is a
section of 'lesson learnt' and 'area of
improvement',
where
different
limitations and where concentration
should be given are explained but no
where it was mentioned how these
Programmes will relate with EP, who
don't have any homestead or crop land
or the needs of seed.
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28
According to activity report, for the part
of ecological agricultural practice on
crop- land of the ecological agricultural
Programme there is a scope that the
groups can collectively implement the
project or individual members can do it
through their groups. So hard-core poor
can be included in this programme.
(But it is need to be clear about the
land [khas or own property] where they
can work collectively)
From the policy analysis it has been seen that most of the PROSHIKA policies are extreme poor
friendly. It has been seen that PROSHIKA’s policies are favourable for the inclusion of the
extreme poor in general and there are no hindrances to their inclusion. In most of the
Programmes there are scopes to involve the poorest groups. Only a few cases need some
clarifications as to how these Programmes can ensure the inclusion of the extreme poor.
PROSHIKA states in the yearly activity report (July 1999- June 2000) that the PROSHIKA
system of loan repayment is tied with the group member's income flows, which encourage the
hard core poor to join the program. Most other micro credit organisations emphasise an equal
weekly or fortnightly repayment system without considering the income flow of the recipient.
This sometimes excludes the hard-core poor. So it can be said that there is no big problem at the
PROSHIKA policy level.
But only a set of good policies is not enough to secure the inclusion of the poorest group. It is
equally important to look at the implementation period or how the inclusion process is being
operationalised in the field. Therefore it is necessary to concentrate on the implementation level.
In the discussion with sectoral people and the ADC level management some suggestions come
up to create an opportunity to increase the inclusion of the extreme poor in PROSHIKA. They
suggest creating some special incentive for the extreme poor and also for the staff that can
encourage them to include the extreme poor.
According to the MTR report, due to the nature of PROSHIKA’s current program, the very
poorest segment of the society, for example the shelter-less and floating poor, are difficult to
reach, with the exception of the beneficiaries of the housing program. The baseline survey helps
to include the hardcore poor who have settled in the village or slum, but the list of selected
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29
members does not explicitly identify them, although it contains categories from the IMEC
baseline list (landless or women headed households).
4.2 A Challenge for keeping the extreme poor included
Although different development actors include the extreme poor in their intervention, the number
is not very significant. Because while the poverty situation seems to have improved a little over
the last few years a little less than a quarter of the rural population still seems to be within the
ranks of the poorest group. NGOs have realised the problem of the poorest group, but they have
not been able to create an adequate inclusion option for them. Another noticeable factor is that
most of those who are included can not sustain their membership. Therefore, it is important to
identify the root causes of their remaining outside the inclusion process.
One of the main reasons for the exclusion of the extreme poor from the development process is
their unwillingness to participate. A conference held in 1998 by Nova found that micro-credit
Programmes have not been successful in reaching the extreme poor. This failure was explained
in terms of the interaction of demand and supply factors. The extreme poor may stay away
because of their own reservations and fear. As most of the practitioners generally work in the
area of micro finance, it seems that credit Programmes have failed to effectively target the
extreme poor resulting in most of them remaining outside the micro credit net. For the most part
these people are so destitute that they consider themselves not creditworthy from the feeling of
exclusion or alienation. They do not feel that they have enough resources to generate incomes to
pay back loans. They therefore ‘self-select’ themselves out of credit programme membership.
Another significant problem of inclusion is their exclusion from the development practitioners'
side. The essential premise of the target group approach is that due to the prevailing inequitable
resource endowments, power structure, kinship system and gender inequalities, growth oriented
strategies leave the under-privileged groups untouched, or even worse off. Special Programmes
are therefore required to effect transformation in the lives of these under-privileged. Sometimes
the inconsistency between strategy and intervention creates grounds for exclusion.
The exclusion may occur not only at the NGO strategic level but also at the level of NGO staff
and group members. NGOs are working with the poor, but they have a target of repayment. So,
achieving the target is common for NGO policy makers and staff. Working with the poorest is
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30
not glamorous. They can least afford to take risks, and they live in a state of extreme insecurity.
On the other hand successful micro credit operations are strongly dependent on strict screening
to ensure that the money that is borrowed can be repaid. Groups themselves or group leaders and
NGO staff are extremely careful to screen out potential risks. Households having some assets
and some steady income (the better off among the poor) are encouraged to join. It is felt that
even if programme funded enterprises do not immediately generate profits or if there are some
losses these households would be able to make up for them through other kinds of income or
through sale of assets. It is feared that destitute households would either consume all income
from funded enterprises and would thereby be unable to make repayments or would be too poor
to sustain even minor losses. Poor recovery would reflect on overall group performance. The
issue of loan recovery is also related to the staff performance evaluation. In respect of loan
recovery it is easier to achieve positive results among the less poor, than the extreme poor. So
both the NGO staff and the group leaders are therefore interested in screening the destitute out.
Another important problem is the drop-out of the poorest from the credit process. MCIs' failure
to serve the poorest may take the form of a drop-out from membership. Drop-outs may occur
because the borrowers cannot make suitable investment into the revolving fund. The failure to
generate an adequate return from the investment of borrowed funds results in a failure of
repayment. Once a borrower decides to drop-out, he/she has no incentive but to repay the loan.
Among the causes of drop-outs, financial reasons appear to be predominant. Financial problems
arise from either the inability to repay the weekly instalment or the inability to deposit the
weekly savings. In addition, lack of group discipline may also lead to drop-outs. So the inclusion
of the extreme poor in the livelihoods process is difficult and it is also difficult to maintain their
involvement.
The PROSHIKA MTR observation was that field workers consider it more difficult to induct the
extreme poor into primary groups than the ''regular poor''. The extreme poor need more
motivation to become group members as they doubt whether they will be able to save and they
are reluctant to take risks by taking loans. Non-extreme poor group members tend to resist the
extreme poor joining them as they consider their lower savings and repayment capacity as a risk
for the entire group. The field staff manage to include the extreme poor in primary groups
through intense motivation and those who have become group members seem to do well in
saving and loan repayment.
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31
Currently there are no analyses available within PROSHIKA on the extreme poor. Since January
2001 the GIS department of PROSHIKA has started collecting quarterly data from the ADCs
(Area Development Centre) on the inclusion of the extreme poor in primary groups. The first
results indicate that the number of groups formed with the extreme poor and other poor groups
(mixed) amount to only 3.4 percent of all new groups, implying that the percentage of the
extreme poor group members would be considerably less. The MTR, however, has the
impression that the present GIS data collection may be under-reporting the extreme poor, partly
due to the extreme poor not being systematically identified.
The above data, the anecdotal evidence from the field staff and the observations made by the
MTR during their field visits confirm that extreme poor persons are included in primary groups,
but not sufficiently. As no data are available on the proportion of the extreme poor among the
selected group members on the IMEC lists, it is hard to assess whether PROSHIKA has been
able to include the extreme poor proportionally in their primary groups. Moreover there are no
monitoring data on the performance of the extreme poor, e.g. on their savings capacities, loaning,
investing and repayment behaviour and on the extent and reasons of dropping out among the
extreme poor.
The MTR recommended that PROSHIKA should consider the development of a separate
strategy and programme targeted at the extreme poor, with particular reference to their different
needs such as shelter, flexible savings and alternative income-earning opportunities not
necessarily based on credit provision and investments.
In conclusion it can be supposed from the above discussion that the inclusion option shaped is
not adequate and accurate. Several types of problem may hinder the inclusion process of the
extreme poor. To overcome the obstacles and to initiate appropriate programme the following
two concerns have to be addressed. Firstly, the limitations of the present process of inclusion of
the extreme poor have to be identified and secondly, the inclusion options for them have to be
increased.
So it is important to look at the issue in a new way. It requires people-centred programmes,
where the extreme poor will play the active and principal role in defining appropriate schemes
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32
for them. They need some exclusive schemes for entering the development process, from which
they are now often excluded.
5. The Extreme Poor's Livelihoods: Lessons from Initial
Field Exploration
During the initial field-work there was an attempt to understand the extreme poor’s livelihoods
from different perspectives. From that experience it has been found that there are various factors
which have a great influence on the extreme poor’s livelihoods. Lots of co-related issues affect
their life most of the time. In this section an effort has been made to discuss their livelihoods
from two point of views. Firstly, different related issues are discussed to get a holistic picture of
their livelihoods and then the co-relation of different concepts and the process is discussed.
5.1Issues related with the extreme poor
In an earlier section of the report different concepts have been discussed and in the context of
Bangladesh it is found that the concepts of social exclusion and vulnerability are very important,
which are linked with other concepts. In the local perspective social exclusion has an immense
role in entitlement irregularity. It has also been noted that there is a co-relation between poverty,
social exclusion and vulnerability. A similar view has emerged from the earlier discussion on
the nature of poverty in Bangladesh.
Through the initial fieldwork an attempt has been made to explore the existing condition of the
poorest group and to understand the conceptual interrelation between the different concepts and
how they work in the field. It has been found that in different places the situations vary and many
dimensions of the issue do exist. According to the initial fieldwork reports lots of issues related
to the poorest people's livelihoods have been found. From many such issues, attention has been
given to major nine issues that cover most of the issues related to the livelihoods of the extreme
poor in Bangladesh. The following nine issues get the highest attention:

Social injustice and insecurity

Female headed households

Calamities and coping

Social network

Migration and remittance

Labour market
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
Policy and institutions

People’s perception towards/about extreme poverty

Inclusion of the extreme poor in PROSHIKA programs
Social injustice and insecurity
An analysis of social injustice and insecurity draws our attention to the present condition of the
poorest groups in society. Generally the poorest groups do not get the opportunity to negotiate
effectively for their rights. We can also concentrate on different legal rights and social customs
that affect poor people's livelihoods. They also lead us to the social and political links that relate
to the poorest people's livelihoods.
Therefore, this theme is useful to understand the flow of resources and which factors influence
their access to those resources through different means. Finally, after getting a clear
understanding we can try to achieve collaboration between the poorest groups and others groups
aiming at equitable and sustainable development. This will hopefully reduce the injustice and
insecurity of the poorest people.
In a society like Bangladesh where a powerful group monopolises the resources and particular
groups are gradually alienated from resources it breeds extended discrimination in the society. It
deprives groups of people from their due shares and constructs greater inequality. These
inequalities produce injustice and exploitation. For instance:
In Bathuli village of Dhamrai thana of Dhaka district, it has been found
that most of the poorest people felt that in any type of social conflict,
which arises between rich and poor, always the local power structure
representatives like chairmen, members and other powerful elites take a
stand in favour of the rich. They demand money from the poorest and
after getting the money they make a verdict in favour of rich people.
Similarly, exclusion not only creates bottlenecks but also inhibits the access of disadvantaged
people to resources and makes inequality. Consequently they are deprived of their rights, which
make them vulnerable and increase their risk of being poorer. On the other hand exploitation
comprises an adverse level of inclusion. In combination with exclusion and exploitation it reproduces the monopolisation of the resources by only powerful persons in a vicious cycle.
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Deprivation that is created by exclusion and exploitation is multi-dimensional. For instance, a
landless daily labourer is very likely to be poor, illiterate, in poor health, possessed of little social
capital, and will find it difficult to exercise his/her rights. Through the process those excluded
groups or individuals become vulnerable. Sometimes, vulnerability makes disparities that create
inequality too.
Fulmati a 64- year old Hindu woman from Koitta village of Saturia thana
of Manikgong district expressed her fear and insecurity due to her
religion. She told us that after the election (parliamentary election,
October-2001) the Hindu community was facing threats and insecurity.
The government was not taking proper action, against those responsible.
Her young daughter- in-law left the house and went to her father's house
one month ago. All the young male members of Hindu families guard their
houses at night to ensure the safety of their families. They did not even
celebrate the Puja festival properly.
Female headed household
In Bangladesh the female households heads (FHH) are mostly widowed, abandoned, divorced.
Some FHHs' husbands have migrated out and others are disabled. We have found that in
Bangladesh in most cases this group has to face more hardship than others for social, political,
religious, financial and such other reasons. So their risk of vulnerability is high. In an extreme
form of vulnerability finally they reach the condition of 'the excluded'. This is the closing point
from where people can not survive anymore. They do not have any chance to cope with shocks
or stresses and they become the hated poor. The following case from the field supports this view:
Rezia is the female-head of a household as well as an extremely
poor woman. Her husband died in 1985. At the time of the marriage
of her daughter she had to give some money to her son-in-low by
selling her straw-made house as dowry. She said that later on she
slidone stage back and became vulnerable. From vulnerability
gradually she slid to the stage of exclusion stage from social
Programmes and community life. Nobody counts her now and she
feels liked a hated poor woman.
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In Bathuli village a female household head's husband is disabled by
an accident. He was a rickshaw puller. One day while he was
driving a rickshaw, a bus hit him. After treatment he has recovered
but lost one leg. From that day he is a disabled member in his
family. Still now he cannot do any hard work. And the family is
suffering a lot.
Calamities and coping
We tried to understand the problems of social and natural calamity according to the perception
of local people. In Bangladesh the poorest people are facing calamities like flood, cyclone, river
erosion frequently. As a result, most of the poorest people lose their income opportunities,
which affects the purchase of food or food consumption.
A 35- year old woman said that during the flood of 1998, 28 jackfruit
trees, and two hog plum trees, which she owned were uprooted.
Selling the fruits of these trees, she earned much money with which
she maintained her family somehow. But post flood she had only a
broken damaged house and no other assets. She sadly told us that
from that time she had nothing to live on. As a result of this she was
struggling for survival in the world.
Social network
The social network is a very important issue for analysis of livelihoods of the extreme poor.
During our field exploration we observed that social networks played a crucial role in the
development of the extreme poor. In any crisis period the social interaction process likes
reciprocal obligations plays a strong role in making it easier to protect people against calamities.
From the fieldwork it has been found that any crisis period the poorer are bound to go to the rich
for some sort of assistance but it is noteworthy that the patrons do not provide any cash or goods
without interest. But there are some variations in the interest rate. If the client is very obliged to
the patron or has a good relationship with him than the interest rate remains low but if the
relationship is bad, the interest may be high. There are two kinds of relationships, horizontal and
vertical. In the vertical relationship there is a patron client interaction, which depends on
resources provided and obligation about interest. In the horizontal relationship, building
activities, which provide collective strength and partnership, enabling the pooling by
organisations of their co-operative advantage.
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The group members of PROSHIKA and other NGOs have acquired
the bargaining power by their collective strength. For this reason
they are able to protest if any land owner or employer doesn't give
their actual wages and sometimes by their own initiative they try to
build cooperatives for fishing, farming etc"
The network pattern of livelihoods includes a social exchange system by which the extreme poor
share their views and goods.
For example,
Hasan, a 35-year old man, is a day labourer. One day wanted to
cultivate his field but he had no money to proceed. His work was
done with the help of his relatives and neighbours. He informed that
if other people faced the same problem he helped them also. This kind
of exchange is called 'begar' that means they only get food but take
no money.
Migration and remittance
Our field experience shows that migration is important of the livelihood for the poorest people.
It can be considered as an important livelihood option from two perspectives. The first
perspective is related to financial issues. It is related to remittance, which, for many households,
is an important source of cash for survival. The second perspective focuses on migration as an
exit option from any vulnerable structure. For the poorest group, it is very important since they
often migrate to get an opportunity to cope with hardship. And sometimes a network has a great
influence on migration. Relevant examples are given below:
Kabir, a 10- year old boy, lost his father during his childhood. In his
family, there was no earning member. So when he was 7 years old he
migrated to Dhaka with the help of his uncle and now he is working
as a waiter in a hotel. Now he is the only earning member in his
family and his family is maintained with his remittance.
Unnoti Begum, a 38-year old woman, lives at Kalabagan village, in
Savar. She migrated here from Comilla when the devastating flood of
1998 destroyed their crops and property. She migrated to Savar
because her sister’s family was living there for a long time. They
helped her to settle there.
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Labour Market
The ‘labour market’ is essentially related to the livelihood of the poorest people. In most cases,
the poorest have no arable land with which they can survive. So they have to be dependent on
other types of occupation-local or non-local, agricultural or non-agricultural. Poor people do
different types of work. When they fail to get work on paddy land, they search for alternatives
such as rickshaw pulling, van pulling, porting etc. In order to survive, they have to get work- any
sort of work. It has been found in the fieldwork that the extreme poor undertake many different
occupations. A lot depends on the availability of work and access to it.
So in order to understand the livelihoods of the extreme poor, it is important to know the
information about the labour market, particularly the diversification of it, patterns of the market
and how it is linked to the extreme poor.
Here is an example that shows that the poorest people as labour force survive by selling their
labour in the local market or in other places.
Agricultural land in the Durgapur villages is limited due to its hilly
characteristics. A small amount of land exists there, which is mainly
owned by the non-poor, in which the poorest people get wage work in
cropping seasons. Other than that, they earn some money by crushing
stones after collecting them from the hill, selling firewood collected
from the forest, catching and selling fish from the river, pulling
rickshaws or vans and porting in Durgapur market. Not only males,
but also females are engaged in earning activities. Those who don't
get work locally, search for it outside the area( in Mymensingh,
Dhaka and other places).
Policy and Institutions
Policy and institutions are very important for livelihoods of all people. but in particular people
feel that different policies and institutions have an impact on the lives of the poorest people
because these related to their access to the labour market, employment, education, security,
justice, networks, mobility etc.
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To establish the equity in society public policy needs to create stronger public and community
institutions, which would help to enhance the capability of the poorest groups along with other
groups for sustainable development. In absence of these the people feel helpless. We can explain
the existing political situation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
The main conflict between the indigenous people and Bengali
settlers in the CHT is the occupancy of land. We know that all the
previous governments fetched many Bengali settlers to the CHT.
Due to the failure of the government policy it could not ensure the
security of indigenous people and they fled to India leaving behind
their land and property. But after the peace treaty when the
government brought them back they didn't get back their own land,
because Bengali settlers had already captured such land with the
support of the administration. And most of the people have not got
back their land yet.
Another example is about the impact of Kaptai hydroelectric
project. During the Pakistani regime in 1960s they constructed the
Kaptai dam dislocating about 50 thousand people. And now all
CHT people are suffering from the project.
People’s perception towards poverty
People’s perception is the combination of people’s views, opinions, voices, philosophy, and
vocabulary. So the perception of the people about poverty should be understood, identified,
recognised and documented very precisely. Unless we understand their views, voices, and
philosophy, it will not be possible to assist the poorest group. What is poverty in their judgment?
Whom do they call the poorest of the poor? Why do they call them so? How do they become
poor? Why are they poor? These are all important questions to understand how they grasp their
livelihoods and survive. So we have tried to know the local people’s perception. An example
from that experience:
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Duliman is a 70 year old widow of Koitta village in Manikgonj.
She thinks that the health problems are caused by the modern
equipment and food they are taking. She says “ irri ebong tube
well amaderke shesh kore dishhe.” meaning the rice they take and
tubewell water they drank is responsible for their that health
problems and makes them poor. So there is a triangular
relationship between health, poverty and modern equipment. She
attributes the suffering and agony she is facing in life to her fate.
She thinks, “amar karma kharap tai Allah shasti dishhe” meaning
that God is punishing her as she is a wrongdoer. When Duldiman
says, “amar moronee bhalo” it means that she would rather die
than live. It expresses extreme frustration and helplessness
towards life.
Besides this we have found some new dimensions of exclusion and vulnerability. The major
issues at stake are as follows:
 Social exclusion inhibits the access and active participation of the extreme poor.

There are variations of exclusion and vulnerability for different groups.

Coping with vulnerability is easier for those among the extreme poor who have access to
any type of assets.

Social exclusion and vulnerability do function as both the cause and effect in creation and
re-creation of poverty.

One sudden shock can create vulnerability and in the long-term the effect is to make
people ultimately ‘the excluded’.
We can explain these points in detail:
Firstly, according to our field experience the extreme poor have no social status, no sociopolitical involvement and even no voice. They are barred from getting access to different assets,
which refer to their claims. The dominant classes often exploit them but they have to endure
without any objection. They have to face hindrances to the freedom of association, missing the
right to be recognised as persons before the law. They do not get their fair wages and equitable
treatment. These discriminations gradually turn into the insecurity. Their insecurity appears as a
series of risk, fear, restriction, and all these create vulnerability.
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For instance
It has been found that low-caste Hindus like the sweepers of Imatpur
of Rajshahi and buno people of Mirzapur of Magura district are more
excluded than other communities and high caste Hindus because of
both their caste and profession. They have very little access to a social
and organisational life and they have no chance to become members
of formalised groups. For that reason they are deprived of mutually
accepted norms, rules and sanction in the village.
Similarly:
The Christians converted from the low-caste Hindus who are the
extremely poor people of Hazrapur are especially, socially excluded
and neglected for changing their religion. The rich man and the upper
caste abhor the Christian community. No Muslim and Hindu upper
caste person invites them as an untouchable class in the village. In
addition, they feel out of place because they abandoned their Hindu
religion. There is an interesting fact that the upper and the schedule
caste Hindus hate them more than the Muslims. The converted
Christians say that they have more intimacy with the Muslims than the
Hindus do. Perhaps, at present their lifestyle is better than before. As
their economic condition developed a little now they are forming an
economic group with the Muslims.
Secondly, it should be mentioned that for different groups exclusion and vulnerability may
perhaps arise from different reasons. Generally as a disadvantaged group due to gender
discrimination in the patriarchal society, all women are to some extent excluded within their own
social group. Social and cultural norms sometimes create obstacles for them like purdah. It
promotes the seclusion of women, enforces their exclusion from public spaces and gives specific
gender identities to labour, which badly affect their livelihoods, especially the single women’s
livelihoods. For example:
In Cox’s Bazar in the Kutubdia village no local woman is allowed to
do outside work, even in any crisis period. They have to maintain
purdah strictly due to male dominance. But at the same time migrant
women are allowed to do outside work. Lots of women from other
villages are working in dry fishing in that village and men have no
objection to it. A migrant woman from said that after her husband's
death she was the head of the family and in her own village she wasn’t
allowed to do outside work due to purdah and social restrictions. So
to maintain her family ultimately she left her village and now she is
working in Kutubdia village as a dry fish worker.
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So there is no hard and fast rule for purdah. We have found two different pictures from other
fields.
The mainstream Muslim women of Aditmari, Saturia and Savar
frequently work outside during the vulnerable periods of two months
in the year. But the women of Brammahnbaria can not do outside
work freely due to social and cultural norms.
Another factor is that although some poor women get access to the labour force, it produces new
patterns of exploitation with poor payment and job insecurity. Due to social exclusion and
injustice women lose their human rights.
Hence there are differences among women in different cultures and conditions such as

Ethnic women of CHT

Bengali Muslim Women

Garo ethnic women

Hajong ethnic women

Women household heads
For example as a marginalised group, the ethnic women are defenceless against various kinds of
human rights abuses. In the Hill Jumma women constituted the most vulnerable section of the
population. Among the many crimes committed against the people of the Hill Tracts, sexual
violence such as rape, molestation and harassment were the worst. Women not only faced
violence when there were raids or army operation, their daily lives and aspirations were affected
by the overall conflict situation. Both old and young generations of women have had the
memories of witnessing violence and torture. Besides this, Bengali women settlers in the area
had a different view of the conflict i.e. for them the enemy were the Shanti Bahini and not the
military. But the violence all around affected them as well (Gain et al. 2000). Both groups of
women are here vulnerable but not necessary all of them become poorer for the sufferings.
Because ethnic women can go back to their community after an extreme level of sexual
harassment but for a Muslim woman it is very difficult to return. Generally she is excluded from
her community and dramatically falls from her position and loses access to different assets.
Gradually she becomes poorer within the society.
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But not all the ethnic groups' life is the same. Field experience shows that there are differences
among them.
A Garo woman from Durgapur never feels excluded from public
places and vulnerable. They are visible in outside work, which helps
them to maintain livelihoods comparatively smoothly. In contrast in
the same area a Hajong woman is subordinate to men in the
patriarchal culture.
Thirdly, it is interesting that among the excluded groups who have many types of capital like
strong human capital or kin networks can cope with the vulnerability and stop being a hated
poor.
Joti Das, a permanent sweeper from Imatpur of Nawgaon, has
sunk into greater vulnerability during her daughter’s marriage.
He had to give 50,0000 taka. as dowry to the groom and his total
expenditure was one lakh taka. He mobilised this high amount of
money by taking a loan from different sources. He is now repaying
the loan in installments. He has been able to cope with the
misfortune and has not slided into vulnerability.
In contrast
The case of Rizia, as mentioned above, shows that due to lack of
any alternative assets she rapidly fell into a vulnerable situation
and failed to cope.
Fourthly, a further important concern is to understand that social exclusion and vulnerability do
function as both cause and effect in the creation and reproduction of extreme poverty. Sometimes
exclusion makes people vulnerable. In contrast sometimes vulnerability makes people excluded
and in both ways people do slide into extreme poverty. For instance, socially old age is
increasingly a painful crisis for many poor people. In Bangladesh perspective, security for old
women is sometimes linked to a son not severing his family bonds after marriage and still
providing food for his mother. FHHs also face the hardship for the reason of exclusion as
mentioned earlier.
Fifthly, as a consequence of lack of scope for asset transformation, one sudden shock creates
vulnerability for the extreme poor and in the long-term the effect is to make people ultimately
‘the excluded’. Sometimes that works as a cycle and gradually pushes them into exclusion. The
following diagram is showing the picture in Bangladesh as found in our field exploration:
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Figure 5: Vulnerability cycle
SHOCK as
Natural
calamity
VULNEABILITY
Damages
house,
crops
Uproots
trees
Post flood
diseases like
diarrhea
Reduce human
capital through
sickness
Reduce scope for
work and fall in
economic stress
Food crisis
In these types of cases they take loans to cope with the crisis. Sometimes they fail to repay the
loan and have to sell their limited resources. Slowly by losing everything they become hated
poor. Not always gradually or in a cycling way, sometimes, natural calamities sharply befall the
extreme poor at the bottom level.
A 35-year old FHH from Bathuli village of Dhaka was
maintaining her family only by selling fruits of some trees that
were uprooted during the catastrophic flood of 1998. After the
flood she had only damaged house to live. And then till now she is
struggling to survive. But rapidly she becomes isolated and is
being excluded from the society.
According to the above discussion different focused issues can be explained with examples in
relation to exclusion, vulnerability and poverty with the following diagram:
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Figure 6: Exclusion, vulnerability and the bottom level of extreme poverty
Effects
Shocks
Existi
ng
Discri
minati
ons
such
as
Societ
y
with
exclus
ion,
exploit
ation
and
resour
ce
monop
olizati
on

Natura
l
disaste
rs such
as
flood,
draugh
t,
cyclon
e etc.
 Social
vices
such as
dowry
 Diseas
e
 Politic
al and
social
conflic
t.










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Damaged
Houses,
crops
Uprooted
trees
Diseasefever,
diarrhea,
malaria,
dysentery
etc.
Less
production
Erosion
Loss of
money
Loss of
property
such as
land,
livestock,
stock
materials
etc.
Loan with
mortgage or
high interest
Disruption
of social
solidarity
Rick of life
Sustain or
copping
group
Increasi
ng
inequalit
y
Exclusio
n
Vulnerabili
ty
The socially
excluded
group/poorer
group
45
In accordance with the previous discussion the diagram shows the whole process of exclusion
and how it works consequently. We have to consider that the whole process is not so simple and
linear. Different shocks mentioned here are not applicable, not only to the poor but also to the
other groups. But for the poorer groups it is really tough to overcome these shocks due to their
scarcity of assets. Considering that it has been found that the inter-relation between access to
different assets, social exclusion and vulnerability are deeply rooted in the creation of extreme
poverty. It has been mentioned earlier that exclusion and vulnerability comes through exposure
to mishaps, stresses and risks to dangers in the physical environment, in society, in the economy,
and in the administration and legal systems.
In contrast, access to different assets through the opportunity of entitlement can offer a chance to
survive. Asset transformations usually function through relationship networks. In the absence of
ownership of different assets and lack of scope of asset transformation there is a decrease in the
opportunity to cope. Gradually the excluded groups become more vulnerable and in the end they
turn into the poorer of the poor and are treated as hated poor in the society. Generally this
process is happening in the rural areas of Bangladesh.
In this part of the paper an attempt has been made to conceptualise extreme poverty in
Bangladesh context and make a linkage with the different related concepts, which have profound
influence on the poorest people’s livelihoods. In Bangladesh, multi-dimensional factors are
functioning in creating and continuing the process of poverty. Different issues identified during
fieldwork have been summed up as eight major issues and are discussed in this section. Similarly
it has been also found that both exclusion and vulnerability have an influential role in poorest
people’s livelihoods. In different contexts these concepts are working in different ways but they
always have an active place in the society.
5.2 Other relevant issues
According to SL principles it is important to identify livelihood-related constraints and
opportunities and apply livelihoods analysis across sectors, areas, and social groups. It will help
to recognise and understand multiple influences on people. It will also recognise multiple actors
(from private sector to national ministries, from community based organisations to international
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bodies) and acknowledge the multiple strategies that people adopt to secure their livelihoods, and
the multiple outcomes that they pursue.
Therefore it is important to consider the poorest people’s livelihoods from their perspective
considering all relative factors. It means that to put people at the centre of development one has
to take their social, cultural and political contexts into account as well as the things they own and
can access and the skills they have. Actually in Bangladesh politics, religion and culture are very
important in analysing the poorest people's livelihoods.
Considering the Bangladesh context, the ability to enjoy citizens rights depends upon who you
are, what you have and who you know (Kabeer, 2001 a, 9): Poor people in this system face
extensive barriers when attempting to obtain access to services, resources and livelihood
opportunities. The poor have little access to government-controlled resources, services and
administrative decisions. Political parties are generally dependent more on local and national
elite who mobilise their dependent clients, rather than the independent ‘‘voting power’’ of poor
men and women. As a result, politicians are unlikely to hold officials to account or press for propoor reform and often have a vested interest in the accumulation of resources and power by elite.
Government accountability is thus limited, and there are few incentives to address the needs and
rights of poor people. It is essential to address the nature and structures of inequality in power
and resources (Moser et al., 2001).
Another important factor is culture, which influence the life style of the poor either positively or
negatively. Cultural identity is built through the sharing of common history or common culture,
common pride in the past, and, in some the sharing of a common passion. These societal bonds
can help to stabilise communities and cure the psychological stress of poverty. But when culture
relates with a situation or a conditional process than it always works on behalf of that condition.
This is a less easily defined category, which refers broadly to those factors affecting the status of
the household. In all societies, individuals and households invest in their status in all sorts of
ways and are accordingly treated differently within communities. In different societies culture
has different characteristics to assess and understand.
However, one can illustrate the notion of cultural resources with reference to a strategy, which is
familiar in many societies, and in many religions. A household may invest in its reputation for
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religiosity and be treated by a whole range of different actors in the community in a quite
different fashion from a non-religious household. For example, very poor households may turn to
religion. Without insinuating that their religiosity can be seen merely as a manipulative strategy,
it is clear that their identification as poor but pious may open up particular channels of support
for them. In Christianity there are still remnants of a religiously operated safety net, while in
Islam are charity to the poor (zakat) is one of the pillars of the religion. Moreover in Bangladesh
age is a principal factor for gaining status. An elder person might not be an income earner but is
generally treated as the respectable person and decision-maker.
Besides this, in a society different groups may practice different culture, which also affects their
livelihoods. As mentioned in the previous section, the life of Garo, Hazong and Bengali women
is different due to cultural variation. Therefore, to achieve a holistic idea of people’s livelihoods
the cultural context needs to be considered.
5. Conclusion
It has been argued in this paper that the conception of the extreme poor in development literature
has emerged from an analysis based on primarily economic indicators like income and
consumption. It is important to note that different development organisations have changed their
views over time and have considered non-economic dimensions. Although the development
practitioners try to pay attention to non- economic indicators they too have a bias for economic
indicators. In this paper the concepts linked with the extreme poor.
Moreover, the prevailing definitions of the extreme poor are based on intellectuals’ view and do
not reflect people's own perception. In the livelihood approach the People’s Perception should be
placed at the centre. Sustainable livelihood (SL) approaches seek to start with an analysis of
people’s livelihoods and show how these have been changing over time. They also fully involve
people and respected their views. To understand and improve their livelihoods it is important to
work to support people to achieve their own livelihood goals. People-rather than resources,
facilities or services they use should be the priority concern. In the existing situation such
approaches are absent.
In the previous section’s discussion it has been shown that there are a large number of different
factors influencing the poorest groups’ livelihoods and it is important to recognise that their
relationship is complex and multi-dimensional. In fact, poverty is not only a state of deprivation.
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The poorest groups’ livelihoods may lie in the specific nature of the social and institutional
environment, in which the growth of communities; households and individuals become stunted.
Exclusion deprives them from the scope of endowment and exchange. Lack of access to public
institutions and resources, lack of supportive ties with other members of their communities, and
lack of bargaining power to resist exploitation by vested economic and political interest groups
are the causes of their vulnerability and insecurity.
For a long time, mainstream development thinking tends to treat this dimension of poverty
simply as a derivative of economic weakness and consequently fails to address such dimensions.
Over time different stakeholders have tried to consider the multi dimensionality of poverty but
not in its entirety.
Till now all the development practitioners’ main focus is on the economic criteria with little
incorporation of the non-economic criteria. So, this paper suggests that the non-economic
dimensions of poverty should receive due attention as poverty is a combination of different
related concepts. It is also necessary to mention that economic assets of the poor cannot be
increased and their economic vulnerability cannot be reduced unless they have the socio-political
strength to access assets, address threats, and resist exploitation. To address the extreme poor
accurately it is important to consider all related concepts. In conclusion, this paper has made an
attempt to explore the co-relation among these concepts to understand the extreme poverty.
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References
BRAC (2001) `Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction: Targeting the Ultra poor –
Targeting Social Constraints’, Project Memorandum, BRAC/DFID-B, Dhaka.
BRAC (2000) `BRAC’s Poverty Eradication Strategy 2001-2005, Focusing on the Poorest’,
BRAC, Dhaka
CARE (2000) `Operationalising Household livelihood security’ CARE
Carney, Diana and Caroline Ashley (2000) Sustainable livelihoods: Lessons from early
experience DFID, London
Chambers, Robert (1983) `Application of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Method', IDS,
Sussex.
Chambers, Robert (1989) `Editorial Introduction: Vulnerability, Coping, and Policy’ IDS
Bulletin, 20(2): 1-7.
de Haan, Arjan (1999) ‘ Social Exclusion: towards an Holistic Understanding of Deprivation
Frankenberger, Timothy, Michael Drinkwater and Daniel Maxwell (2000) `Operationalising
Household Livelihood Security: A holistic Approach for Poverty and Vulnerability’ CARE
Frankenberger, Timothy (2001) `Summary for Theme 1’ from DFID Regional Livelihoods
Workshop May 2001, Dhaka
Gain, Philip (et al.) (2000) 'The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Life and Nature at Risk' , Society for
Environment and Human Development (SEHD), Dhaka.
Gordon, David and Paul Spicker (1999) The international Glossary on poverty UPL, Dhaka
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (1997) `Five Year Plan 1997-2002’
Kabeer, Naila (2002) `Safety Nets and Opportunity Ladders: Addressing Vulnerability and
Enhancing Productivity in South Asia’ Livelihood Options Working Paper 159, ODI, London
Moser, C.O.N, et al. (2001) To claim our rights: livelihood security, human rights and
sustainable development, ODI, London
Narayan, Deepa (et al.) (2000)' Voices of the poor: Crying Out for Change', Oxford University
Press for World Bank, New York.
Narayan, Deepa (et al.) (2000)' Voices of the poor: Can Anyone Hear Us?' Oxford University
Press for World Bank, New York.
PROSHIKA (nd) `Baseline Guidance Sheet’
livelihood
Page 50 of 63
50
PROSHIKA (1999) Towards and Poverty Free Society: Five Year Plan, 1999-2004
PROSHIKA (2001) Mid-term Review Report
Rahman, Hossain Zillur, and Mahbub Hossain (eds.) (1995) Rethinking Rural Poverty :
Bangladesh as a case study
Rahman, Hossain Zillur (2000) Poverty issues in Bangladesh : A strategic Review
Weerelt, Patrick van (2001) `A rights-based approach to development programming in UNDP:
adding the missing link’ UNDP
World Bank (1999) `Consultation with the poor, Dhaka’.
livelihood
Page 51 of 63
51
Annex:1 Study management structure
1. Advisory committee
From PROSHIKA
Dr. Qazi Farouq Ahmed- Prisedent
Mr. Mahbubul Karim -Senior Vice Prisedent
Md. Shahnewaz -Director Field Operation
Mr Masrurul Islam -Director Credit and Finance
Mr.Khaze Alam -Director Natural Resorces
MS. Fawzia Khandaker- Deputy Director GRCC
From DFID
Mr. Donal Brown -Senior Advisor
Ms. Clare Hamilton- Regional Livelihoods Co-ordinator
From Technical Assistance Team
Dr. Janet Seeley
2. Steering committee
Mr. Sirajul Islam -Deputy Director Field Operation- Chairperson
Mr. Sahadat Hossain -Deputy Director Field Operation
Ms. Fawzia Khandaker -Deputy Director GRCC
Mr. Nuru Miah -Co-ordinator Livestock
Mr. Dipok Kumar Biswas -Co-ordinator Disabled program
Mr. Abu Naser- Co-ordinator IMEC
3. Research/ Study team
Co-ordinator
Mr. Gautam Shuvra Biswas
Co Co-ordinators
Ms. Nasrin Sultana
Mr. S.M Zubair Ali Khan
Researchers
Munshi Israil Hossain
Mohammed Kamruzzaman
Salim Ahmed Purvez
Sinora Chakma
Mayee
Ahmed Borhan
livelihood
Page 52 of 63
52
Research Associates
Md. Sazzad Hossain
Ms. Aneela Parvin
Md. Atiqur Rahman
Ms. Shamsunnahar
livelihood
Page 53 of 63
53
Annex: 2 Poverty Classification & Their Indicators by different organisations
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
1. PROSHIKA
Poverty
classific
ation
Indicators
Land
Wage
condition
Marginal 
Upto
100 dec.
land

Share
cropper
Landless

Upto 50
dec.

Extreme
poor

No land

Selling
labour
most of
the
time
round
the
year
Beggin
g
Food

May not be
met food for
the year
round with
cultivation
own land &
share
cropping

Hand to
mouth
Women
status

Widow
and/or
separated
women
Settlement

Migrat
ed due
to river
erosion
Female
headed
HH

Family
Sise

Wom
en
head
ed
HH
Marginal farmer: Marginal farmers have some cultivable land (highest 100 decimal) and/or
involve in share cropping. But it may not meet his food necessity round the year. Household
labours are used for cultivation. Labours are never hired for cultivation, moreover sometimes has
to sell labour for survival. They have no surplus production at the end of the year.
Landless: Usually the landless farmers have no land, but some of them may have upto 50
decimals land. Most of them are wage labourer and sell their labour at agricultural or nonagricultural sectors for living.
Extreme/hardcore poor: The extreme poor has neither cultivable nor homestead land. Some of
them are migrated due to river erosion, have disable member(s) in the family, have widow or
separated women in the family, women headed poor family, begging for living and unable to
bring about two meals a day. They are live in hand to mouth.
livelihood
Page 54 of 63
54
Disa
ble
famil
y
mem
bers
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
2. CARE
Poverty
classific
ation
Social
connect
poor
Extreme
poor
Invisible
poor
Indicators
Land

50200
dec.

Upto
50
dec.

Housing
structure
 Roof the
main
house is
made of
tin

No

land,
live
in
others
land
Live in
hatched
housing
Very
poorly
construc
ted
housing
Food
consumption
 Can meet 2-6
months food
needs
 Can meet 2
meals during
food deficit
period
 Can meet 2
months food
needs

Can’t meet
food needs
Education


No
educat
ional
faciliti
es
Employment status
Credit


Share cropper
HH members
sell labour for a
part of the year

Have
access
to
NGO
loan


Share cropper
Women work
for wage
HH members
sell labour
round the year
Begging
Women work
outside for
earning
Sell labour
round the year

Have
access
to
NGO
loan

Don’t
have
access
to loan

Don’t 
send

childre
n to
school 
Social connected poor: They have land from 50 to 200 decimals land, comparatively better
housing quality with tin roofed, can produce food for 2-6 months, able to provide at least two
meals for the family members during the food deficit period. They cultivate their own land.
Beside this some of them involve in sharecropping and sell labour for a part of the year. Some of
them have access to NGO loan.
Extreme poor: They have some land (upto 50 decimals) and live in hatch made house. They can
meet two (2) months food needs. Some of them involve in sharecropping. Both men and women
sell labour round the year. They have no educational facilities and some have access to NGO
loan.
Invisible poor: They have no land and live in other peoples’ land with very poorly constructed
house. They don’t send their children to school. Women work outside for earning and men sell
their labour round the year and some of them begging for living. Them have no access to NGO
loan.
livelihood
Page 55 of 63
55
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
3. DFID
Poverty
classification
Tomorrow’s
Poor
Indicators
Land
 Upto
150 dec.
Intake calorie
 Food intake
more than 3140%

Food deficit
Food deficit
break even


Moderate
Poor

Upto 50
dec.

Less than 2112
kcal

Occasionally
food deficit


Extreme Poor 
Upto 15
dec.

Less than 1800
kcal

Chronic food
deficit


Income
Per capita
annual income
Tk. 8,368
HH annual
income Tk.
41,840
Per capita
annual income
Tk. 6,285
HH annual
income Tk.
31,435
Per capita
annual income
Tk. 3,757
HH annual
income Tk.
18,785
Tomorrow’s poor: This type of poor has upto 150 decimals of land. They take more than 2100
kcal per day. Their per capita annual income is Tk. 8,368 and annual household income is Tk.
41,840.
Moderate poor: They have upto 50 decimals land. Food deficit occurred occasionally and they
take less than 2112 kcal per day. Their per capita annual income is Tk. 6,258 and annual
household income is Tk. 31,453.
Extreme poor: They have upto 15 decimals of land. They suffer chronic food deficit and take
less than 1800 kcal per day. Their per capita annual income is Tk. 3,757 and annual household
income is Tk. 18,785.
livelihood
Page 56 of 63
56
Poverty
classific Land
ation
Poor
 More
than 100
dec.
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
4. ASA
Indicators
Food
security
 Three
(3)
meals
per
day
Income



Very
poor/
hardcor
e poor


No land
Often
without
homeste
ad

1/2
meal
per
day



Minimum
Tk. 2,0003,000
Average
Tk. 2,5004,500
Maximum
Tk. 3,
000-5,000
Very low
income
Work for
other
houses or
beggars
No regular
profession
Physical




Access to
Clothing
Health & Educatio Housing
bank
sanitation
n
 Saving  2-3
 Someti
 Tin
s: Tk.
lungi/s
me
or
500aree
latrine
stra
1,000
using
&
w
clothes
tubethatc
well
hed
hous
e
Illness 
Idlene
ss
Frustra
tion
Instabi
lity
No
saving
s

Donat 
ed
clothes
Lack
of
health
care


No

abilit
y to
spen
d
mon
ey
for
educ
ation
Usua
lly
illite
rate
No
hous
ing
Poor: They have more than 100 decimal land. They can provide three (3) meals per day for the family members. Their average income is Tk.
2,500-4,500 with a minimum earning of Tk. 2,000 and a maximum earning of Tk. 5,000. They have access to bank with a small amount of
livelihood
Page 57 of 63
57
savings of Tk. 500-1,000. They have minimum clothing of 2/3 lungis/sarees and live in tin or hatch roofed house and sometime have latrine and
tube-well.
Very poor/ hardcore poor: They have no cultivable land and often without homestead land. They can provide 1/2 meals per day for the family
members. Their income is very low and have no regular profession. They work for other houses and sometime begging and savings. They are
dependent on donated cloths. They have no housing and unable to spend money for children’s education and usually illiterate.
livelihood
Page 58 of 63
58
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
5. World Bank
Povert
y
classifi
cation
Social
Poor
Land



Helple 
ss poor

livelihood
Page 59 of 63
Food
availability
Small

amount
(0.3
0.6acr.)
Landles
s (in
Gowing 
hat)
Live on
khas
land
(Charfa
ssion)
Landles 
s
Often

no
homeste 
Wage
conditions/
Income
earning
Food
 Sharecro
deficit
pping
wage
Can
lobour
meet 2
months  Fisher
need
labour
(Chorfas
2
sion)
regular
meals  Bus
during
driver
slack
(Dhamra
season
i)
 Factory
worker
(Female)
(Dhamra
i)
Food

deficit
Go on
hungry
Childre 
Social
interaction




Sharecro 
pping
wage
labour

Low
Trust

worthy in
communit
y
Capable to 
borrow
from
neighbour(
s)
Better
interaction
with
middle/ric
h
Express
opinion
but no
leadership
Unable to 
entertain
guests
Not to get
help from
Indicator
Women
GO/NGO
status
involveme
nt
Access
to Bank
Clothing Health/Sanit
ation
Education
Factory 
workers
(Dhamra
i)
Not used
to work
outside
the home
(rural)
Receiv 
e
GO/N
GO
assista
nce
during
crisis
Acce 
ss to
loan
Seek
old
cloth
from
rich
/mid
dle

No or

poor
water,
sanitatio
n ,latrine
facilities
(except
NGO
members
)
Menial

services
(urban)w
age
labour
NGO

membe
rship
No

acces
s
Poor
cloth
ing

No
facilities
Wretche
d faces


No
mentioned
No
facilities
59
ad
n
engage 
d in
househ
old
works 
for
food

wage
neighbours
Ricksha
w puller
(M)urba
n
Maid
servant
(F) urban
No
bargaini
ng
capabiliti
es with
employe
rs
Bottom  No land  Beggin  No
 Low

Poor
or
g
income
interaction
homeste
depend
earning
with social 
ad
ency
members
groups
 Income
 No
not
importance
sufficien  No
t (if,
invitation
earning
male
member
present
Source: Bangladesh- Consultations with the poor, World Bank-1999
Menial
service
Widow
headed
family

No
access

No

acces
s
Dona 
ted
(jaka 
t)
depe 
nden
cy
No
facilities
High
illness
No
treatmen
t

No
mentioned
The Social poor: The social poor are characterised by food deficit and ability to somehow manage two regular meals during slack season. Their
land can meet at best two months needs. They diversify their livelihood and commonly combine sharecropping with wage labour. They are
trustworthy in community and can borrow from neighbour. They are allowed to express opinion on community affairs but not to take leadership.
livelihood
Page 60 of 63
60
The helpless poor: The helpless poor are mainly landless, many of them do not own homestead, wage labour is their main source of livelihood.
They are identifiable from poor for clothes and wretched face. They live without health care and education ...cost of both is beyond their ability.
They do not have ability to entertain guests.
Bottom poor: The bottom poor own neither cultivable land nor homestead. More distinctly, this type of household is women-headed household
or headed by elderly men having no income-earning members. They do not have access to institutional or non-institutional loans, they are
screened out from NGO membership, which ruled out their last possibility to receive assistance as poor. They have low interaction with other
social groups
livelihood
Page 61 of 63
61
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
6. BIDS
Pove
rty
classi
ficati
on
Mod
erate
poor
Land(own
ership)

5-1.5
acres.
Extre
me
poor

Less
than
5
deci
mals.
No
cultiv
ated
land .

livelihood
Page 62 of 63
Land
tenure
*Land
less
non
cultiva
tor.
*Pure
tenant.
Food
deficit
*Chroni
c
deficit.
Calorie
intake
*Daily
calorie
intake
2112.
*Daily
calorie
intake
1740.
Wage
conditio
n/Occup
ation
*Fully
depend
on
manual
labour.
*Agritu
ral wage
labour.
*Femal
e wage
labour
Income(pe
r capita)
Income
(Househol
d)
*Tk.4790.
*Tk.
46000.
*Per
capita
annual
income
TK.2810.
*H.H.
annual
income
TK.21000
.
Social
interacti
on
Wom
en
status
Clothin
g
Healt
h/San
itatio
n
Educati
on
Fa
mil
y
sise
Housi
ng
*Lack
of
effectiv
e
kinship
network
.
*Less
bergai
ning
power
.
*Don't
own
two
lungi/
shari.
*Have
no
winter
cloth.
*Low
level
of
health
aware
ness.
* No
acces
s to
toilet
facilit
ies.
*Head
of the
Househ
olds had
no
formal
schoolin
g.
*La
rge
nu
mb
er
of
chil
dre
n
age
>10
*Jhup
ri
house
*Sing
le
struct
ure
house
.
*That
ch
roofs
house
.
62
Poverty Classification & Their Indicators
7. BRAC
Poverty
classification
Indicators
Land
poor or
moderate poor
Ver
y
poor
Destitute
poor
Ultra
poor
livelihood
Page 63 of 63
Less
than 6
decim
als
Less
than
10
decim
als
female
headed
house
hold with
single
income
earner
Women
with
disable
husband
Depend
ent
upon
seasonal
wage
employ
ment or
begging
Poor
qualit
y
housi
ng
Very little
clothing
Suffer
from
food
insecuri
ty
No or
low
producti
ve
assets
Vulnera
ble for
natural
disaster
less
than
2122
kcal but
more
than
1800
kcal
less
than
1600
kcal
less
than
1800
kcal
63