‘It was as if we were drowning’: shocks, stresses and safety nets in India
Editor(s)
Sweetman, CarolinePublication date
2011-07-01Subject
GenderCountry
India
Metadata
Show full item recordJournal
Gender & DevelopmentDocument type
Journal articleDescription
Government social protection schemes and conventional microfinance interventions have struggled to reach the poorest and help them escape the confines of extreme poverty. In response, BRAC in Bangladesh experimented with an innovative approach that combined livelihood creation, financial services, and social safety nets in order to ‘graduate’ participants out of extreme poverty and toward a sustainable livelihood. Inspired by BRAC's success, CGAP and the Ford Foundation launched an initiative to test and adapt BRAC's approach in a variety of countries and contexts through their Graduation Programme. This paper focuses on the Graduation Programme implementation in West Bengal, India. By using a qualitative life history approach, we found that prior to joining the programme, participants had different ‘idiosyncratic resources and risks’ that defined their starting points. Programme performance among participants was largely based on a combination of these starting points, programme functioning, and the use of personal agency. Where the programmes were implemented as designed, they succeeded in strengthening participants’ individual and household resources, and access to social networks, and expanding certain spheres of influence. However, some constraints were too deeply established to influence. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis. For the full table of contents for this and previous issues of this journal, please visit the <a href="http://www.genderanddevelopment.org">Gender and Development</a> website.Pages
14ISSN
1355-2074EISSN
1364-9221ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1080/13552074.2011.592632