BANGLADESH’S EXPERIENCE
WITH
SOCIAL SAFETY NETS
AKHTER U. AHMED
INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
BANGLADESH POLICY RESEARCH AND STRATEGY SUPPORT
PROGRAM
KNOWLEDGE, TOOLS AND LESSONS FOR INFORMING THE DESIGN AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF FOOD SECURITY STRATEGIES IN ASIA
14-16 NOVEMBER 2011
KATHMANDU

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Page 2
Social safety nets in Bangladesh
Bangladesh possesses a wealth institutional diversity
and a wide range of experiences in providing assistance
to the poor through social safety net programs
Comprehensive portfolio of social safety nets—over 60
programs operated by 13 different ministries; and some
NGOs covering various target groups
Bangladesh spends about US$ 2.3 billion per year on
social safety nets, representing 2.4% of its GDP
Government spending on safety nets increased from
around 4% of public expenditure in early 2000s to about
15% in 2010/11

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Policy and program reforms
Successive governments have shown remarkable
willingness to evaluate program effectiveness, confront
shortcomings, and cancel or modify programs as a result
Recent policies promote social protection (risk reduction)
rather than safety nets (risk coping) strategies
Substantive changes in admin structure and
implementation mechanisms:
Transformed most relief programs to development
programs
Converted ration food price subsidies to targeted food
distribution
Engaged NGOs in the implementation of various
safety net programs

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Impact of Social Safety Net
Interventions in Bangladesh:
Evidence from IFPRI Studies
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INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Comparing food and cash transfers to
address social protection debates
Programs evaluated: IGVGD “Only food” ; FSVGD and
FFA “Food-cash combination” ;RMP “Only cash”
Poorest households prefer food, relatively well off cash
Size of transfer and type of food ration important to
improve food security
Transfer + microcredit access sustained
impact
Onerous work requirement of public works programs
improves targeting but limits impact
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Source: Ahmed, Quisumbing, Hoddinott, Nasreen, and Bryan. 2009. IFPRI

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Form of food transfer affects
intrahousehold food distribution
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Source: Ahmed, Quisumbing, Hoddinott, Nasreen, and Bryan. 2009. IFPRI

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Short-term hunger alleviation in the
classroom improves children’s learning
Bangladesh’s school feeding program (SFP) provides a
mid-morning snack of high-nutrient biscuits to children in
school
Calories from SF biscuits are almost entirely (97%)
additional to the child’s normal diet. The child’s family
does not give him or her less food at home for eating SF
biscuits at school.
SFP improves nutritional status (BMI) of school children
SFP raises enrollment by 14.2% and reduces dropout by
7.5%
Participation in the SFP increased achievement test
scores by 15.7%
Participating students did especially well in mathematics
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Source: Ahmed, A. 2004. Impacts of feeding children in School: Evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Sustained impact of BRAC’s asset
transfers on food energy consumption
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Source: Ahmed, Rabbani, Sulaiman, and Das. 2009. IFPRI-BRAC

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Education incentive programs increased
primary school enrollment rates
18.7
13.7 14.2
8.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
FFE (food) PES (cash) SFP (food) ROSC (cash)
%increaseinnetenrollment
FFE = Food for Education Program
PES = Primary Education Stipend Program
SFP = School Feeding Program
ROSC = Reaching Out-of-School Children Project - Ananda schools

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Page 10
Girls’ secondary school stipend program
over-achieved gender equity in schooling
From 1992 to 2008, girls’
enrollment overtook that of
boys at both primary and
secondary levels of
education
However, the difference is
larger at the secondary
level, which indicates that
the girls’ secondary
education stipend program
over-achieved the gender
equity

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Policy Issues
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INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Safety nets challenges in Bangladesh
Persistent concerns over mis-targeting
Persistent concerns over leakage and inefficiency in
delivery
“Too many” programs that are poorly coordinated
Appropriate roles of cash and in-kind transfers not clearly
articulated
Extending safety nets to urban areas
Excessive emphasis on short term impact
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INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Way forward
Scale up effective programs
Consolidate programs and phase out high-cost,
inefficient programs
Focus on: nutrition, pension schemes, social insurance
Continue to invest in human capital creation
Reach vulnerable and underserved populations:
Urban poor
Indigenous groups
Adolescent girls
Children 0-2
Pregnant/lactating women
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