The intention of all food assistance programs in Bangladesh is to help the poor. However, while some aim simply at the relief of immediate distress, others have development objectives, including rural infrastructure development, boosting primary school enrollment rates, and human capital development (Table 1).
Although relief provision remains an important objective, most targeted food programs have gradually shifted in emphasis from relief to development.3 Thus overall allocations to programs such as the Vulnerable Group Development and Food-for Education program as a share of aggregate program outlays have been increasing steadily over the nineties. In the sections that follow, we start first with a brief description of each of the main food assistance programs currently operating in Bangladesh.
Source: Various program documents. Source for program off-takes reported in Table A1.
2.1 Food-for-Work Programs and Test Relief
Food-for-Work is not so much a single program as an umbrella of different programs and projects carried out by a number of line ministries in collaboration with various donors. Over the years, donor support to the FFW has declined somewhat, but the overall size of the program has continued to rise steadily. Of the overall allocation of around 750,000 metric tons for the FFW in 1999-2000, about 60 percent was provided by the Government. While different FFW programs have different methods of implementation and beneficiary selection, all share the basic objectives of developing rural infrastructure and providing employment to the poor in rural areas. Their work on infrastructure includes activities such as planting trees, digging canals, building embankments, developing ponds, and building and maintaining katcha roads and roads connecting growth centers.
The Government runs several FFW programs without donor support, such as the Rural Infrastructure Reform program implemented by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. The main donor supported FFW programs are the Rural Development (RD) program supported by World Food Program (WFP), bilateral donors, and the Government, and the Integrated Food for Development (IFFD, changed to the cash-for-work Integrated Food Security Program in 2000) project funded by food assistance from USAID through PL-480 Title 2 allocations to CARE. The RD program supports forestry, water, roads, and fisheries projects which are implemented by the Forest Department, Water Development Board, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), and Fisheries Department, respectively. LGED is the government line ministry responsible for implementation of the IFFD. In keeping with the trends towards increased emphasis on building human capital and community assets, WFP has been integrating the RD program with a new Integrated Food Security (IFS) program. Food-for-work activities that aim to build community infrastructure are being combined with food-for-training activities that focus on improving nutrition and enhancing income-generation capabilities.
On-site work for FFW projects is mainly carried out between January and April. Some programs, rather than giving intermittent employment to anyone who applies, give longer-term employment. For instance, for routine canal maintenance under the RD program, poor women receive food or cash transfers for an extended period, and are also trained in income generating activities, nutrition and health awareness.
The Test Relief program—though in most respects very similar to other FFW projects implemented by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief—is carried out during the rainy season between July and November. As heavy earth work is usually not feasible during this period, this program is confined mainly to maintenance of schools, mosques, madrashas, and other such activities which have much lighter labor requirements.
While the exact formula used to determine allocation of resources across regions depends on the particular FFW program concerned, in programs funded by the Government, by and large, resources are allocated to the different districts, thanas, and unions according to population only. For instance, in the case of the FFW component which is responsible for construction and repair of unpaved roads and is implemented by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, food is allocated to the unions according to population, with each union thus getting, on average, about 27 tons of food grain from the Ministry’s annual allocation of 120,000 metric tons last year. Beneficiaries are selected through a self-targeting mechanism as individuals can choose whether or not to participate. The program is theoretically available to everyone, but relatively low wages and labor requirements are set in a way as to discourage the non-poor from participating.
On each project there is a Project Implementation Committee (PIC) comprising about 7 to 9 community “notables” and headed by the chairman of the union parishad. Officially, the committee is the main implementing authority for the project, for which all members of the committee work voluntarily. It is entrusted with assessing project priority, feasibility, and benefits, as well as with maintaining a list of the beneficiaries employed on the project. Allocations for each project are made on a notional basis, assuming that 1000 cu. ft. of earth work requires 50 kilograms of wheat, and that workers will be paid a wage rate of 5-6 kilograms per day worked. Within each thana, the Project Implementation Officer (PIO) acts as the main liaison between the PIC and the Government.
