Bric-à-brac

BRAC: Anatomy of a “poverty enterprise”

“…Independence from BRAC may also mean the loss of trained and skilled persons who work for internal markets. A careful reading of BRAC's credit manuals (BRAC, 1995(BRAC, , 1997 may lead readers to infer that BRAC policy is to provide loans to ablebodied married women but not unmarried women.…”

“…BRAC annually "needs an estimated amount of $50 million of additional funding to get back on its feet" (Fernando, 2006a, p. 32). This deficit could be reduced if BRAC is able to double its income with a required growth at 7 percent annually and requires organizational income from business at 6 to 8.5 percent annually for ten years (Terry and Mueller, 1997). Thus, BRAC has to rely on both poverty and nonpoverty sources, but the more it diversifies income from nonpoverty sources, the more it comes under pressure to recruit poor people in increasing numbers by expanding its internal market.…”

“…It reengineered its governance, program management, and organizational structures to find synergies between its development objectives and business plan. In 1997 it adopted a strategic plan to become more of a business corporation by 2007 rather than a pure development-oriented organization (Terry and Mueller, 1997). It also dealt with two issues: how to serve the poor while staying efficient as an organization and how to combine subsidized programs with revenue-producing programs.…”