Impact Assessment of Credit Programme for the Tenant Farmers
This paper assesses the overall impact of the Tenant Farmers Development Project, Borgachashi Unnayan Prakalpa (BCUP), on various aspects of tenant farmers in Bangladesh. The BCUP program was designed by BRAC to provide credit and extension services to small scale tenant farmers. It provides customized credit services and loans at subsidized rates to farmers who cultivate land owned by others. To evaluate the impact, the study uses both quantitative and qualitative assessments. It also highlights the similarities and differences between BCUP clients and non-client tenant farmers. Further, it provides extensive information on the socioeconomic profile of tenant farmers and elucidates the context in which tenant farmers and small holders operate. The following sections are covered in detail:
- Agrarian structure and tenancy market in Bangladesh;
- Discussion of the BRAC tenant farmer development project (BCUP);
- Methodology for the study with a focus on qualitative and quantitative assessment design and correlation analysis;
- Results from the research with a focus on the impact of the program on health, nutritional status of children and mothers, land ownership, tenancy market, land utilization, asset holdings of the households, credit market, access to agricultural extension service, household income, expenditure and consumption, incidence of poverty, and food security.
