Fifteen-year Follow-up of the Targeting the Ultra Poor Program

The multifaceted livelihood program designed by BRAC—known as the “Graduation approach”—which provides ultra-poor households with a productive asset, training, coaching, access to savings, and consumption support has been shown to be effective in Bangladesh, and in several other countries in evaluation after 4 years. In part due to the strength of this evidence, the approach has been scaled up and replicated, not only by BRAC, but by several other partners, including governments. BRAC estimates that Graduation programs have been developed in nearly 50 countries by more than 100 organizations, including governments.

The Graduation program is expensive. It is only cost effective if the impacts are durable for many of its beneficiaries. Its basic theory of change is also that it can help unlock a poverty trap. In West Bengal, the setting of this study, the program still found a large sustained positive impact after 10 years, mainly through its impact on the earnings of the second generation.

In the West Bengal setting, the researchers are now proposing to return and survey the original beneficiaries and control households (who have remained in the control group all this time, unlike in other settings) after 15 years, to assess if the positive impacts still remain, and, if yes, to continue to illuminate their channels.