Scaling Up Kudumbashree: Collective Action for Poverty Alleviation and Women's Empowerment

This paper discusses the factors that enabled, and constrained, the scaling up of a multi-sectoral poverty alleviation program called Kudumbashree, initiated by the Government of Kerala, (GOK), India, in 1998 to eradicate poverty by 2008.

The paper presents the following information about Kudumbashree:

• In 1991, the GOK initiated the Community-Based Nutrition Program (CBNP) in Alleppey town to improve the health and nutritional status of children and women;
• CBNP facilitated collective action by forming and developing the capacity of three-tiered community development societies (CDS);
• CDS had only women as members;
• The program identified women from poor families and organized them in to neighborhood groups of 20-45 families;
• These groups had a system of internal control and regulation;
• This program was expanded in the State.

The paper identifies the following:

• Enabling features of the program:
  • Decentralization and devolution of finances to the local government bodies (LGBs);
  • Financial sustainability through various modalities;
  • Leadership and innovation from officials;
  • Partnerships with other institutions;
  • Training and capacity building of LGBs.
• Constraining features of the program:
  • The inclusion of all women, instead of just those below the poverty line;
  • Delays in negotiations between various stakeholders.

The paper concludes by listing potential trade-offs of the program, which include:

• Shrinking focus on maternal and child health, and nutrition issues;
• Increasing signs of the CDS and LGBs becoming bureaucratic.