BEES Annual Report 2005-2006

7/24/2019 BEES Annual Report 2005-2006

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W e M ou rn

W e, the BEES family, are deeply sorrow and shocked at t he heartbreaking

demise by road accident of our two past energetic, sincere and beloved

m embers- M d. Fazlul Bari and M d. M ahfuzar Rahman.

M d. Fazlul Bari son of M vi Karim Baksha Akhand of Bogra district joined

with BEES on 3 April 1978 as a Crop Promoter. By means of efficiency he

w as promot ed and availed the post of Senior Program Assignm ent

M anager (Zonal M anager) since his last tim e. He w as engaged to

implem ent different projects of BEES w ith honesty, sincerity, and

efficiency for about 28 years. He w as 49 years old.

Md. Mahfuzar Rahman son of Md. Azimuddin Ahmed of Bogra district

jo ine d w it h BEES on 23 Sep tem ber 19 81 as an Irr igat ion Field Ass istant .

By means of efficiency he w as promoted and availed the post of Upazila

Manager since his last time. He was engaged to implement different

projects of BEES w ith honesty, sincerity, and efficiency for alm ost 25

years. He w as 44 years old.

M d. Fazlul Bari and M d. M ahfuzar Rahman w ere died by heartrendingroad accident at the place Noaw apara of Bhanga thana under Faridpur

district on 23 March 2006 during returning from field visit by same

motorbike. At the last period of service they were engaged to implement

National Nutrition Program under Integrated Nutrition Project in Faridpur

region. They have left behind family m embers, c olleagues, friends,

relatives and many well-wishers.

BEES w ill remem ber t heir contribution t o t he organization everlasting.

With deep heart we mourn this tragic death and whole-heartedly pray to

Alm ighty Allah for the salvation and eternal peace of t heir departed soulsand express our heartfelt condolences t o their bereaved families. M ay the

Alm ighty give their bereaved families' encourage and fortitude t o bear

these losses.

Late Md. Fazlul Bari

Late Md. Mahfuzar Rahaman


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BEES Report 0 5 -0 6 7

N ote of the

Executive D irectorCounting on collective actions, BEES has been mounting campaign for alleviating anykind of poverty. Over three-decade of long experience, we learnt that development canbear no fruit without effective resource mobilization. Capitalizing on this key point, BEESis going ahead to motivate, organize and empower the disadvantaged people throughw ell-coordinated local resource mobilization. It has a great inclination to support andimplement demand-driven programs to bring about the positive changes in the lives ofunderprivileged, neglected, illiterate and unskilled poor people, especially the destitutew omen in the society by empow ering to att ain self-reliance.

BEES dream is committed to engraving development. So the prime concern of BEES isto empower women resources with a view to doubling the development of the nation.From the salad days, BEES has been centering upon the participatory approach forstimulating the com munity peoples inner beings that they w ill be able to identify and

analyze their problem s and needs. Then they w ill be w ell-equipped through life skilldevelopment to innovate sustainable solution for their own problems. Bridgingbeneficiaries aspiration and action, BEES is sowing seeds of prosperity among them toharvest golden tomorrow certainly.

Through a development lens, it is very much necessary to address the cyclicalchallenges copping w ith the dem and of the t ime. In view of that, BEES is review ing itsplans and progress consecutively considering all the existing challenges for preview ingachievements as a whole. Thus BEES has the proper and familiar way of breaking down

barriers for maintaining high watermark of success in implementing activities all along.

Beginning with an agricultural project for providing support to marginal farmers only,BEES is now-a-days a growing and thriving institution of collective efforts to orchestrate

different programs and projects comprehensively. To address the need of thedisadvantaged community people both in urban and rural areas, BEES inaugurated moreintegrated projects and programs in recent years. Simultaneously its intervention areashave been expanded to 2903 villages of 102 upazilas in 29 districts to reach theunreached.

Different undesired problems associated w ith staff dropout and some fund flowconstraints have hampered the implementation of the programs in this year.Nonetheless, as per the annual target, the achievement w as more t han satisfactory.Setting the pace of prosperity for beneficiaries to m ake them w in the race of selfreliance, we successfully implemented and provided the planned services to over 20 lacbeneficiaries and helped them improve their living standard by providing necessaryknowledge, effective t raining and much needed credit.

BEES believes that poverty alleviation is the exclusive result of integrated empowermentthrough collective actions. So m aking headway in micro-finance program implementationand micro-enterprise development initiatives, BEES has been established as the gatewayof self-reliance for the deprived people and it is a continuous process to help acceleratedemployment and income generation.

During the reporting period, health and nutrition programs committed to sound health forsound nation covered an excellent achievement addressing the health and nutritionalstatus especially of women and children. The field-based performance carried out andlessons internalized during the session have accomplished the ground work for the nextfew years of successful operations and further extension of activities.With a vision to contain the vulnerability related to ignorance, illiteracy, environmental


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8 BEES Report 05 - 06

pollution, risky behavior, gender-based violence & discrimination, HIV/AIDS, STD and unemployment, BEES is upholding its mission perfectlythrough implementing diversified programs like Education, Agriculture & Social Forestry, Water & Sanitation, Reproductive Health Literacy,W om en Emp ow erment , Gender Aw areness, HIV/A IDS Prevention, Poultry & Livestock, Life-Skill Developm ent, InterpersonalComm unication, Advocac y, Net w orking and so on. Our collaboration w ith government initiatives like Nat ional Nut rition Program (NN P) andSocial Investm ent Program Project (SIPP) has yielded posit ive result bot h to BEES and its beneficiaries on a great scale. Thus BEES w ouldlike to raise a clarion call to undermine the t hreats t o sustainable development arming w ith the w orthy assistance of all respectivestakeholders as a w hole.

In the course of reaching up to the desired satisfaction in implementing programs, we are very much thankful for the many blessingsshowered on us by the Almighty. Concurrently we are looking forward in deep faith His all-powerful help for our continuing and enhancingdevoted eff orts for the w ell being of all the poor. The dedication and determ ination of all memb ers of BEES-fam ily are the source of thesprit to continue the achievement of the goals and objectives set t hrough the demand-driven approach. Our development partners andother stakeholders carried on to provide financial, ethical and timely backing and assistance to our core operation which translated all ourendeavors into success. I am essentially grateful to the Policy Formulat ing Body of BEES w ho contributed w ith passion to forw arding ourjourn ey tow ard s the sus tain ab le fu ture . Furtherm ore , I w ou ld like to give m y than ks in ear nest to all the do nors, co nt rib ut ors andassociated mem bers who have been with us at all times.

At length, I hope this effort to publish the report w ill be of interest to t he esteemed readers to be aware of t he programs, target orientedachievements and philosophy of BEES. Side by side, this report will be somewhat a source of information to the partners and stakeholdersof BEES program who are frequently supporting its effort.

SaifulIslam Robin


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ExecutiveSum m aryEmerging in 1975 as a project of Christian Reformed World Relief Committee(CRWRC), nowadays BEES is a well-reputed and thriving national NGO committed toself-sust ained development. It has been undertaking programs and projects forsocio-economic upliftment of the greater majority of the rural and urban poor peoplesow ing the seeds of prosperity among t hem all along. Its vision is to establish a justsociety in which men and w omen can w ork together to form an institution to att aina higher degree of self-reliance in managing their own affairs as well as to achieve ahigher and sustainable standard of living. The mission is to bring about changes inthe lives of the poor, illiterate, neglected, unskilled and destitute people, especiallyw omen of the society, through their empow erment, self-reliance and improvementof life style by its endeavors for sustainable development.

Any kind of destitute, displaced and deprived people are by and large the targetgroup of BEES. Copping with the time as well as in response to the existingproblem, needs and demand, BEES has to make changes in the criteria of selectingtarget group. The objectives and goals set for initiating new programs and projectsto cater to the need of the beneficiaries covering wide range of population under itsdevelopment fold in order to achieve the M illennium Development Goals often makeBEES bring about changes in the criteria of target group.

Being well-equipped wit h the vision to translate the vicious circle of poverty intovirtuous circle of prosperity, BEES development initiatives spread to 2,903 villages of102 upazilas in 29 districts of Bangladesh. Now it is intending to extend itsinterventions to new areas for ameliorating the sufferings of neglected people. In

order to address the development challenges, BEES has been implementing a widerange of diversified programs w ith special emphasis to M icro-finance, Agricultureand Social Forestry, Health and N utrition, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education. Anumber of support as well as special programs undertaksen are contributing toachieving the objectives of the main programs.

BEES believes that provision of savings, favorable access to credit and insurancefacilities enable the poor to invest money in productive activities. Thus they canmanage their risks better, build their assets gradually, develop their own micro-enterprises, enhance their income earning capacity and ultimately enjoy animproved quality of life. Thinking over this significant point, the micro-financeprogram of BEES helped to promote economic grow th and development by creatinga self-sustaining credit service among the poor and hardcore poor over the reporting

period. BEES provided three types of products and services to its group membersunder the Microfinance Program:

i) Credit, ii) Savings, iii) Credit Plus Services through Seba Package

i. CreditBEES provided credit to its group members to initiate different income generatingactivit ies. Credit operations w ere carried out through a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) ina systematic process. It provided credit t o its beneficiaries through such sub-programs under M icrofinance Program as Rural Micro Credit (RM C), M icrofinanceand Technical Support, Ultra Poor, Financial Services for the Poorest (FSP),M icrofinance for M arginal and Small Farmers, Urban M icro-Credit (UM C), Micro-Enterprise.


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ii. SavingsSavings opportunities with BEES provided members with fund for consumption, children's education, improved nutritional status and otherinvestm ent. Income from savings generated greater capacity for self-investm ent, and enhanced the ability to face external shocks by thegroup members. It also provided security for old age and served as a contingency fund during natural disasters when income levelfluctuated.

iii. Seba PackageW ith a view t o ensuring sustainable future through integrate d empow erment , BEES incorporated Seba Package in its credit act ivities tomake the microfinance program more rich, creative and effective. BEES provides Credit Plus Services entitled Seba Package to the targetgroups so that they can move to a higher degree of self-reliance with a sustainable growth. BEES believes that parallel to financial support,people need to widen their periphery of knowledge, skill and fulfill social requirements in a pragmatic manner. Therefore, BEES arrangedSeba Package to link credit facility with the following essential services to address these issues: Insurance General and Reproductive Healt h Services Agricultural Support Services Funeral Cost Pre-school Incentive for Pregnant M others (having maximum tw o children) Training.

During the reporting period, BEES maintained insurance policy to ensure safe scheme for the borrowers. The insurance policy covered therisk of the death of any borrower/head of the fam ily-mem ber. On receiving death information from the loanee, Tk.1000/= w as provided(grant) covering the cost of funeral to the member of the family. BEES ensured general and reproductive health services like antenatalcare, post -natal care, safe d elivery, fam ily planning counseling, referral services for STD/RTI and HIV/AIDS, free diagnosis, prescript ion,counseling and medicine supply to the poorest and referral services. During the reporting period, out of total registered cases 4.00%,6.33%, 10.33%, 6.00%, 2.67% for ARI, diarrhea, malnutrition, worm infestation, skin diseases respectively and 37.33% were treated asother cases under General and Reproductive Health Services. Among all the cases 2.67% and 1.33% received ANC and PNC respectivelyand 0.67% of the cases w ere imm unized against TT. For contracept ive met hods users 13.67% for pill, 3.33% for condom, 6.00 % forindictable, 5.00% for IUD, and 0.67% for ligation were recorded. During the reporting period, 45 paramedics were working under thesupervision of w ell trained M edical Officers. Health Service Activities (HSA) w as implemented in 14 districts w here 96,377 mem bersreceived the services through Sheba Package.

Under the Seba Package, the agricultural support services ensured distribution of seed, seedlings and saplings, fertilizers, fencing,supervision and follow -up, etc. The target be neficiaries received these and other related services t hrough group meet ings by BEES making

them human capital in production. M ore than 300 pre-schools, Sisimpur (Sesame Street) st yle Schools, w ere established in M icro-creditintervention areas for grooming children to make them join primary school. BEES provided need based training to target beneficiaries onsuch common topics as modern agricultural technology transfer, seed production and storing technology, small poultry firming and cattlerearing & fattening, hatchery maintenance, paddy-fish production technology, agro-forest nursery management, PHC, maternal & childhealth and family planning, adolescents' health, food & nutrition, group formation and leadership development, group dynamism and so on.

During the reporting period, Rural Micro Credit (RMC) provided loan through 82 unit offices in 29 districts. As on June 2006, 52,881beneficiaries consisting of 3114 groups received loan of Tk. 1219.76 m illion from this program. The recovery rate w as 99%. Recently, PKSFhas provided fund to BEES for strengt hening Urban M icro-Credit (UM C) program. Over the reporting period, BEES extended m icro-creditfacilities to 1173 urban beneficiaries in 2 units under this program, and expected them to unleash from the intolerable and dreadful poverty.In true sense, BEES started t o expand the M icro Enterprise activities from July 1997 . Primarily in the early phase of its evolution, theprogram was initiated with support of one million Taka of the Basic Bank in a small pocket of Bogra district in 1984. The result was verypositive. Therefore, from July 1997, it was promoted in other potential BEES' micro credit intervention areas to support small entrepreneurs

for micro-enterprise development program. Up to June 2006, the cumulative disbursed loan was Tk. 357.23 million to 4,405 beneficiariesorganized under 6 16 groups.

In April 2005, BEES started Ultra Poor (UP) project in Rajshahi, Natore and Gaibandha districts. Through this project, both financial andtechnical supports to enhance the income as well as improve the livelihood status of the beneficiaries were ensured. BEES formed 824groups consisting of 24,372 target beneficiaries. It has provided human development training to 5,000 beneficiaries, skill training to 2,700beneficiaries, and disbursed Tk. 94.20 million as loan among 19,662 beneficiaries during the period of July 2005 to June 2006. Socio-economic Rehabilitation Loan Program (SRLP) was launched in February 2002 at Chuadanga, Naogaon and Meherpur districts. Through thisproject a t otal of Tk. 21.46 m illion w ere distributed among 3651 beneficiaries to construct or repair their houses and manage other familyneeds. Targeting the hardcore poor especially vulnerable to periodic financial and social shocks, endemic insecurity, physical violence,unemp loyment and so on, BEES initiated its Financial Services for the Poorest (FSP) Project in M adhobpur upazila under Hobiganj district inJuly 2002. During the reporting period BEES promoted 4,098 beneficiaries in 190 groups, provided training on human development to3,749 beneficiaries, skill development training to 645 beneficiaries, and organized 3 workshops for them. Side by side, this organization



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provided tot al loan of Tk. 27.32 m illion to 3,313 beneficiaries. Wit h a view to increasing income and improving the livelihood status ofmarginal and small farm ers, M icro Finance and Technical Support (M FTS) program w as started in J anuary, 2004. The farmers of B.BariaSadar of B.Baria district and Madhobpur upazila of Hobigonj district were the target beneficiaries of MFTS program. Poultry and livestockrearing, parent st ock rearing, cow fatt ening, food trading, mini hatchery, and kitchen gardening w ere the major IGAs of this program. Total8,744 beneficiaries received loan of Tk. 199.61 million for operating specific IGAs. All of these programs and projects were funded andsuppo rte d by PKSF.

In June 2005, PKSF launched the M icrofinance for M arginal and Small Farmers (M FM SF) project w ith the financial support of International

Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to improve the livelihoods of 210,000 poor, small and marginal farmer households. In thereporting year, BEES implem ented t he activities of M FM SF project in 29 villages of 15 unions under tw o upazillas of Sherpur district. M orethan Tk. 58 lakh loan was distributed among 1200 mem bers.

In this reporting period, different inevitable problems associated w ith shortage of funding, staff's and beneficiary member's drop out, strike,blockade and political unrest and so on hampered the implement ation of m icro-finance program. In addition t o PKSF, linkages w ith ot hergovernment and national banks were est ablished to m itigate t he fund crisis. BEES reviewed the salary structure, arranged staff t raining toreduce the rate of staff drop out rate, and arranged training for beneficiaries for utilizing their m oney in proper IGAs. M ore than 46 BEES staffand 1,250 beneficiary mem bers received training on several agricultural activities, like cow fattening, catt le farming, fish culture, chick, key andmodel rearing, mini hatchery, poultry management, egg and feed selling. Beneficiaries also got training on several social issues includingwoman empowerment, early marriage, dowry, hygiene, etc.Over 90% of Bangladeshi population's primary occupation is agriculture. As the part of leading the way to sustainable development,therefore, BEES introduced the Agriculture and Social Forestry Program in 1975 to keep poverty in bay and to ensure healthy environment.

W inter and summ er vegetable seeds w ere distributed among 61,194 and 65,456 beneficiaries respectively under this program in thisreporting period. BEES made the beneficiaries acquainted with some improved technologies on vegetable seed production, integratednursery, spacing of seed sowing, tree plantation in agricultural crops, homestead gardening, mini orchard establishment, compostpreparation using kitchen w aste and dung, rice-fish production, IPM in vegetable and crops, and vegetat ive propagation of fruit trees. Sideby side, it disbursed a loan amounted to Tk. 53,025,000 among 7,264 farmers for homestead gardening, nursery establishment, andorchard establishment. BEES distributed 92,413 saplings of different types of fruit trees, 95,394 timber and 24,280 medicinal trees amongits beneficiaries. Total 10,19 9 beneficiaries w ere covered under Poultry and livestock program .

BEES participated in 15 agricultural fairs in 8 district s arranging dem onstration on aman, w heat, oil seed, pulses and w inter vegetablecultivation using modern technologies, heap compost preparation, green manure, farm yard manure, kitchen gardening, existing fruit treesmanagement, orchard preparation to increase the farm production.

IFAD through DAE provided the financial support for operating Agricultural Improvement Project (SAIP) in 358 villages of 10 upazillas under

3 districts. BEES distributed loan of Tk. 733.29 lakh and collected Tk. 12.96 lakh savings from members under this program.

BEES distributed loan of Tk. 63,804,000 among 8708 beneficiaries for implementing the poultry and livestock activities. During thereporting period 678 poultry and 144 catt le farms w ere established, w here 135,680 poultry and 5,720 cattle w ere found. Total 314,398poultry and 9668 catt le w ere vaccinated.

It is known to all that health investments often yield the highest rate of return in development field. BEES extended its Community BasedHealth Program (CBHP) from its own Fund with the technical assistance from GOB to provide community based health services to theintervention area comm unity. A total of 24,170 households w ere brought under this program. BEES ensured its support tow ards 104,939beneficiaries on ante-natal care (ANC), safe/clean delivery, post-natal care (PNC) and family planning. In case of family planning, thecontrac eptive accept ance rate (CAR) was achieved 74.08 % against the target of 73 .06%. Total 11,61 9 children of 1 to under-5 years oldreceived Vitamin A capsule as a preventive measure of Vit-A deficiency disorder. CBHP provided the services towards 8 groups incommunity level and 12 groups in school level of 10 to 19 years adolescents through a pilot initiative of Network for Ensuring Adolescent

Reproductive Right and Services (NEARS) as supported by UNFPA.

M aking headw ay in nutrit ion awareness com prehensively, BEES has been implem enting Nat ional Nutrition Program (N NP) activities in 82unions of 6 upazillas through 1,207 Community Nutrition Centers (CNC). In the course of implementing this program, targeted beneficiariesreceived core A BCN (Area Based Comm unity Nutrition) services. Pregnant w omen w ere provided w ith t he supports of regular check up,food supplem entat ion, Iron Foliate tablet s and other facilities as ante-nat al. This program ensured the services for the new born babies totake colostrums, vitamin A supplementation, and other care. Concurrently, counseling on basic nutritional facts, reproductive health, lifeskills, delayed marriage, anti-dowry motivation and so on were brought about for adolescent girls. Iron Foliate supplementation was servedfor adolescent girls and newly-w ed w omen as w ell. In case of conducting, supervising and monitoring the program, the N NP authorityalw ays team ed up w ith BEES on a regular basis providing valuable and friendly guidance and advice for tuning up the over all intervention.Regular coordination and monitoring meeting at NNP office chaired by the Executive Director helped to share ideas, experiences andprogress w hich contributed immensely to t he project success. The consequences made t he implementation sm ooth, dynamic and fruitful.It points to the significant and notew orthy achievement in establishing the c ollaboration with government initiatives like NN P for the w ell

being of the disadvantaged people especially vulnerable to malnutrition and ignorance.



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With a vision to mount the campaign to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS, BEES carried out a project on HIV/AIDS from Feb 2005 to June2006 e ntit led 'Strengthen Capacity and Know ledge of CBOs on HIV/AIDS' funded by UNICEF under the assistance of HIV/A IDS Intervent ionFund (HAIF) of W orld Bank. The objective of t he project w as to strengt hen capacity and know ledge of 10 CBOs on HIV/AIDS. BEESorganized 100 group m eetings, arranged several video shows, t w o com munity m eetings to strengthen know ledge on HIV/AIDS of thecom munit y people. BEES staged street drama and folk songs on HIV/AIDS prevention and aw areness at five different places. In eachshow, around 1,000 audiences mainly school children, adolescents, youth, couples, and distinguished community people were present.

Being committed to making benighted enlightened, BEES is orchestrating different activities under Education Program during this reporting

period. It operated 8 pre-primary schools w ith 122 boys and 118 girls under the guidance of 8 female t eachers. Drop out rate w as only4.92% f or boys and 5.9 3% for girls. A ll teachers rec eived a 4-day long training on Learning Process, Role of Teacher, and Role of SM C.Under Reaching Out of School Children (ROSC) program, 17 schools w ith 17 t eachers w ere running having 577 student s, w here 40.55%w as boys and 59.45% w as girls. BEES conduct ed 30 batches w ith 900 st udents under the Post Literacy and Continuing Education forHuman Developm ent (PLCEHD) Program under the guidance of 1 5 m ale and 15 f emale t eachers. Teachers of PLCEHD received a 9- daylong basic training on Post Literacy and Family Life Education. During the reporting period, tot al 300 schools w ith 9,000 st udents (50.4 6%boys, 49.54% girls) were running under Sisimpur Outreach Pre-primary education program based on the basic theme of Sisimpur (SesameStreet ) TV Program w here 238 teachers (14.29 % male, 85.71% fem ale) were involved. Tw o day long training on Role of Facilitator andHow to Use M aterials w as arranged for all teachers, supervisors and students under this program.

Development carries no fruit without organizing social mobilization properly. Keeping this key point in mind, since January 2005, BEES hasbeen implem enting the Social Assist ance Program (SA P) phase-II successfully wit h the financial assistance from IDA/W orld Bank and GoBthrough the collaboration with Social Development Foundation (SDF). Through social mobilization BEES formed 189 citizen watch groups,

organized 145 parents t eachers association, conducte d advocacy and problem sharing sessions w ith the adolescent g irls and boys,prepared cultural scripts and organized 751 village theatres, jatra and jarigan on agricultural, nutritional and other social issues. BEESconducted 188 health related advocacy sessions and organized 1,646 immunization campaigns. It also conducted 287 sessions ondifferent SAP issues with the local primary and high schools, organized training on human rights and laws for 1,062 groups, developedmodule and conducted training on alternative dispute resolution (ADR). BEES identified 155 victims of different violence in the project areaand provided legal aid services. Besides, 1,811 infants w ere registered, and 763 deaths, 1,411 m arriages w ith dow ry and 50 m arriagesw ithout dow ry w ere recorded.

Every digit of communication engraves development. So, IDC Cell always tried to support the existing core programs and projects settingthem in the pace of prosperit y to w in the race of success t hrough effect ive BCC, IPC, advocacy and netw orking. IDC cell published AnnualReport 2004-2005, Desk Calendar 2006 and Wall Calendar 2006. It prepared an advocacy manual containing 14 issues on SocialAssistance Program (SAP-II). More than 13 posters on other different issues, such as child labor, child education, safe sanitation,homestead gardening, awareness on family planning and exclusive care for pregnant mother, etc.; 2 brochures entitled Prevention of Early

M arriage and Prevention of Dow ry, 2 flyers on Nut rition Aw areness and Adolescent Reproductive Health, 9 stickers on Remedies of Night-blindness, Utilization of Safe Wat er, Supplement ary Food for Pregnant M other, Health Aw areness through Washing Hands, ANC throughVaccination and General Health Care, Exclusive Breast Feedings, Arsenic Awareness and Safe Water and Sanitation. 1000 copies of NoteBook etc. w ere developed and published by IDC cell in this reporting year. This cell prepared the sc ripts and organized more t han 700shows of popular street theatre on Social Assistance Program (SAP-II) and HIV/AIDS Prevention Program to make the community peopleaw are of health and sanitat ion, nutrition, child education, w omen rights, good governance, gender discrimination, HIV/AIDS prevention etc.

In order to review programs and implementations to preview the prosperity as a w hole, the Research, Evaluation & M onitoring (REM ) cellprepared Annual Progress Report for 2004-2005, developed questionnaires and formats, and designed data collection procedure toconduct impact assessment study on Financial Services for the Poorest (FSP) and Pre-primary education program of BEES. This cell sharedits findings with different stakeholders including internal management, donors, field staffs and policy makers as they can contribute moretowards achieving the goal. Research findings were disseminated through different documents, like annual report, inception report, impactassessment report, case studies, different survey reports, evaluation report, etc.

Human resource development is an important tool to address the social issues properly and reach expected result. Copping with needpaying heed to human resource development, BEES continuously provides training to its staff so that they are well-groomed to performw ell. During the reporting year, 2,365 staff w ere w orking in several projects/program s of BEES. More t han 1,380 staff received trainings onseveral issues. Maint aining a close working relationship w ith donors, BEES received fund from W orld Bank & GOB through Nat ionalNut ritio n Program (NN P) & Social Deve lopm ent Foundat ion (SDF), UNICEF, PKSF, IFAD, W USC-CIDA, BPHC-DFID, RAKU B and som e nati onallevel Banks. BEES got the mem bership of A DAB, CAM PE, VHSS, CDF, NGO-forum, CUP and CEN. This organization has been rec ognizedth rough PVDO/NGO direct ories pub lished by A DAB, CIRDAP, DAM , PACT/PRIP, PKSF and VHSS respec tive ly. During the repor tin g periodBEES had 10 partner organizations for its education program and 2 for Social Assistance Project phase II. Thus arming w ith collect iveaction and exclusive effort s through inclusive approach, BEES att ained a high wat ermark of succe ss in materializing its annual target s anddevelopment goal in the said reporting period. It has been possible due to having the close and profound support and assistance from allkinds of donors, stakeholders, well-wishers, staff of all levels as well as spontaneous participation of the target groups, i.e. beneficiaries.



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1.0 O rganization Profile

Civil societies include many diverse organizations, and cataloguing them is not simple; even focusing on developmentNGOs yields a range of types. Analysis classifies NGOs by functional orientation-welfare, development organizing,advocacy, development educat ion, netw orking, or research-and by level of operation-co mm unity, national, regional, orinternational. NGOs may combine functions and levels of operation. Several support functions have emerged asimportant t o NGO comm unities in many countries. Support organizations often serve more t han one of thesefunctions, although most start as providers of one or tw o kinds of support.

BEES emerged as a support organization in the development arena in 1975 through a project of Christian ReformedWorld Relief Committee (CRWRC). Now it is well recognized as a national NGO. It endeavors for the socio-economicdevelopment of the great m ajority of t he rural and urban poor communities as w ell as promot es substantialcooperation in various sectors of development, such as rural and urban institution building, awareness raising,

resource mobilization, basic education, economic base creation, human resource development, nutrition, generalhealth, M CH-FP and reproductive healt h services, agricultural services and a range of other support services.

BEES started its activities through Rural Development Program (RDP) for sustainable development of rural poor underBogra district through integration of com munity development approach. Ill iterate, neglected, destitute anddisadvantaged poor people, especially women of the rural area were the beneficiaries of that program. Nevertheless,it has been implem enting an integrated Poverty Alleviation Program (PAP) since 1997 w ith a new st rategic dim ension.

Sustainable development can never be obtained without alleviation of poverty. 'Poverty' is not only due to lack ofincome or employment opportunity but also a complex syndrome manifested in a variety of dimensions. Therefore,BEES's effort is to promote income or employment generation for the target beneficiaries through different initiativeslike micro enterprise lending assistance, micro finance, poultry and livestock, agriculture and social forestry etc. BEESworks for bringing the disadvantaged people of rural and urban areas under the same umbrella and forming

homogeneous groups to facilitate a sustainable change w ithin the society t hrough social as w ell as economicemancipation. For changing the behavior and attitude, and improving knowledge of the target groups, BEES appliescomprehensive promotional activities including training by using IEC and/or BCC materials.

Under Poverty Alleviation Program (PAP), BEES has linked up health c are services and hum an resource developm ent.Aw areness programs on hum an rights, legal support, gender equality, w omen em pow erment et c. have beenmainstreamed to t he program implementation t o make the efforts m eaningful and sustainable.

BEES provides its developm ent services t o rural and urban poor people w ho ow n

0.5 acres of land Depend largely on the selling of own manual labor for their survival

Community people especially women of 15-49 years, children, and adolescents are the direct beneficiaries of health, MCH-FP, nutrition and educat ion programs. In addition, me n and w omen of 1 8 to 4 5 years w ho have no access to get loan fromcommercial banks or other financial institutions are offered to accept facilities from micro-credit program of BEES.


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V ision

To establish a just society in which men and women can worktoget her to form institution t o att ain a higher degree of self-reliancein managing their own affairs and achieve a higher and sustainablestandard of living.

M ission

To bring about changes in the lives of the poor, illiterate, neglected,unskilled and destit ute people, especially w omen of the society,through their empowerment, self-reliance and improvement of lifestyle by its endeavors for sustainable development.



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1.2 Program s of BEES

In order to address t he development challenges, BEES has beenimplementing a wide range of diversified programs with thespecial emphasis on Rural Development, Micro-finance,Agriculture, Health and Nutrition, and Education. A number ofsupport programs accompanied with some special ones are

contributing as an integral part of implementation in achieving theobjectives of the focal programs.

EES

Program s

at

a

glance

B.H ealth, M CH -FP andN utrition Program s

Community Based Health Project

National Nutrition Program

HIV/AIDS prevention program

Nut rition Surveillance Project

D .Support Program s

Training

Information and Development Comm unication

Research, Evaluation and M onitoring


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1.3 Program A pproach


A .Rural D evelopm ent Program s

M icro-Finance Program

- Rural M icro-Credit- Urban M ic ro -Cred it- Ult ra Po or- Socio-economic Rehabilitation Loan Project- M ic ro -En terpr ise- Financial Services for the Poorest- M icro Finance & Technical Support- M icro Finance for Marginal and Small Farmer's Project

Agricult ure & Social Forestry

Poultry & Livestock

Education

C.Special Program s

Social Assist ance Program ( SAP-II)

W ome n's Rights and Gender Equality Program

BEES gives emphasis on Building and Strengthening

Community Institutions, Pro-poor, Gender SensitiveInterventions, Demand Responsive and Decentralized ServiceDelivery Mechanism, Promotion of Good Governance andSustainable Development as its' participatory and demanddriven approaches.

Target Population

BEES provides its development services to rural and urbanpoor people who own 0.5 acres of land, and primarilydepend on the selling of ow n manual labor for their survival.M en, w omen, children, adolescent and disabled peoplewithin the program area are the target beneficiaries of BEES

w ith especial emphasis to destitute w omen and hard corepoor. Presently BEES is providing services for improvementof livelihoods to a population of more than 20 lac people.

A rea Coverage

During the period of July 2005 to J une 2006 BEES w orkedfor 2,903 villages of 102 upazillas under 31 districts ofBangladesh. Now, BEES is planning to extend its coveragew ith other new areas to stir up more people who are stillneglected and lying down t he poverty line.


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1.4 O rganizational Structure 2005-2006


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Translating the V iciousCircle of Poverty into the

V irtuous Circle of Prosperity2.0 Ru ral D evelopm ent ProgramIn 1975, BEES launched a program on rural development named Bogra Rural Development Program (BRDP). The major objective of thisprogram is the sustainable development of rural poor under Bogra district through integration of community development approach.Illiterate, neglected, destitute and disadvantaged poor people, especially women of the rural area are the beneficiaries of this program.

The goal of RDP w as to cont ribute tow ards establishment of an equitable society, in w hich the poor and disadvantaged group of people couldbe united toget her on the same platform, att ained a high degree of self-reliance for m anaging their ow n affairs to achieve sustainable

improvement in their livelihoods.

BEES organizes its members into groups and offers a service package including awareness raising program and skill development throughthe provisions of credits, technical services, inputs and marketing facilities.

Following are the major sub-programs under this program:

Micro-Finance program

Agricult ure & Social Forestry

Poulty & Livestock ; and

Education

2.1 M icro-Finance ProgramAt present m icro-credit and income generating activities for the poor, especially poor w omen are becoming central elements ofdevelopment initiatives of NGOs in Bangladesh, with keeping pace of global emphasis on self-employment and on the basis of theassumption that micro-credit programs and m icro-enterprises lead to increased household income thus t ranslates into m ore pow er andinfluence for w omen at households and in the com munity. M ost N GOs encourage savings and extend credit to poor w omen, organizedinto small groups with a stress on self-reliance. Provision of micro-credit has been taking a dominant place in local programs inBangladesh as poor wom en in Bangladesh have gained an international reputation for t heir performance in specialized credit organizations.

In 1979, BEES started micro-finance activities through an agreement with Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) for helping the poor people whoare deprived from the formal banking system. BEES continued this program up to mid-1988 and provided micro-finance services with acompetitive and reasonable interest rate to the rural and urban poor so that they can enhance their economic status, and upgrade theirstandard of living by utilizing the credit money in different income generating activities (IGAs). To eradicate poverty from the interventionarea BEES appended micro financial services to its other development programs. Community people, getting loans and insurance facilitiesfrom the organization with easier terms and conditions, were happy and had been able to save more money.

M ajor InterventionsThe major interventions of BEES to operate the program in more effective and efficient manner were - conduct survey, form and mobilizegroups, conduct social mobilization activities, training, meeting, w orkshop, collect savings and manage credit through disburseme nt ofloan, provide technical supports, select entrepreneurs, raise awareness on entrepreneurship and various social issues.

BEES organized several trainings on human resource development, leadership, skill development on IGAs, supervision and follow-up etc.Regular monitoring was the prime consideration of BEES to keep the program in right track.

Target BeneficiariesTo become a member of an association under micro-finance program of BEES one must satisfies the criteria as under:


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Landless, w ith special emphasis on w omen;

Ow n 0.50 acre of land;

Earn living by selling m anual labor;

The ultra poor living below the poverty line; and

Age between 18-45 years.

M icro-f inance program of BEES, in l ine w ith other com ponents of i t , has been w orking foraddressing the need of the target population. The components are:

2.1.1 Ru ral M icro-Credit (RM C)Rural Mic ro Credit (RM C) is one of t he m ajor intervent ions of BEES. Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation(PKSF) and other national banks are the major sources of fund. Now this program is running through 82unit offices in 29 districts. As on J une 2006, there w ere 52,881 beneficiaries consisting of 3114 groupsw ho received a loan of Tk. 1219.76 m illion in total from this program. The recovery rate w as 99%.

2.1.2 U rban M icro-Credit (U M C)A significant number of rural people migrate every year to the urban areas searching for employment.Casual daily labour is the sole source of income for most men. W omen have even few er options andthe inform al sectors they w ork in are unregulated. How ever, the urban poor population continues tosoar. Despite the fact that urban poor people make major contributions to the Bangladeshi economyand provide essential services, the areas they occupy are seen by the authorities and middle classes asheavens of crime, drugs, disease and environmental pollution. BEES felt the necessity of helping thesepoor people to uplift their socio-economic condition, and over the last 10 years, this organization hasbeen w orking for them . Recently, PKSF has provided fund to BEES for strengt hening Urban M icro-Credit(UMC) program. During the reporting period, BEES extended micro-credit facilities to 1173 urbanbeneficiaries in 2 units under this program, and expects them to unleash from the intolerable anddreadful poverty.

2.1.3 M icro-Enterprise (M E)W hile most economists agree that long-term em ployment provides more security and higher returnsthan micro-enterprise activities, traditions in Bangladesh often inhibit a woman's ability to obtain

employment outside the home. How ever, in order to reverse the falling status of Bangladeshi wom en,international and local organizations have instituted micro-lending programs, giving women access toloans to start their own small businesses. During implementation of micro-credit program, BEESobserved that there are many small entrepreneurs, craftsman and skilled workers in the rural areasw ho are struggling hard to overcom e their sufferings but failed due t o capital. On that realization, BEESprovided the financial support to prom ote t heir entrepreneurship as w ell as create the em ploymentopportunit y for the rural and urban poor. This concept is not new for BEES, it initiated t he M icroEnterprise activities in July 1997. Primarily in the early phase of its evolution, the program was initiatedw ith support of one m illion taka of the Basic Bank in a small pocket in Bogra district. The result w asvery positive, therefore, from July 1997, it was promoted in other potential BEES's micro creditintervention areas to support small entrepreneurs for micro-enterprise development program. Throughthis project BEES organized 616 groups consisting of 4,405 target beneficiaries. Up to June 2006 thecumulative disbursed loan was Tk. 357.23 million to beneficiaries.

2.1.4 U ltra Poor (U P)The ultra poor households are almost universally landless, w ith w age labor being their main source ofincome. This high dependence on wage market makes the ultra poor households extremely vulnerableto food insecurity and malnutrition. In April 2005, BEES started Ultra Poor (UP) project in Rajshahi,Natore and Gaibandha districts. Through this project BEES provides both financial and technicalsupports to enhance their income as well as improve their livelihood status.

The major activities under the project are group formation, social mobilization, group meeting, savingscollect ion, micro credit managem ent, aw areness raising on social issues, human development andleadership training, skill training on various IGAs for self-employment, wage-employment supervisionand follow-up, technical support in the field of IGAs, w orkshop, and comm unity meeting, etc. During

the reporting period BEES formed 824 groups consisting of 24,372 target beneficiaries. It has provided


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human development training to 5,000 beneficiaries, skill training to 2,700 beneficiaries, and disbursed Tk. 94.20 million as loan among19,662 beneficiaries during the period of July 2005 to J une 2006.

2.1.5 Socio-Econom ic Rehabilitation Loan Project (SRLP)As Bangladesh suffers flooding often, a strategy should be developed to reduce the damage to infrastructure and, where possible, reducethe im pact of t he unavoidable consequences of flooding. BEES launched Socio- econom ic Rehabilitation Loan Project (SRLP) in February2002 at Chuadanga, Naogaon and M eherpur districts. BEES started it for extending the services to t he people w ho w ere affected by flood

and natural calamities and lost their land and assets. The project provided the credit facilities to the flood affected people restore theirmeans of livelihood that include food, medicine, construction or repairing of houses, safe water, personal hygiene and sanitation and otherrehabilitation activities.

The major activities under the project were group formation, social mobilization, installation of hand tube-well (HTW) and sanitary latrine inthe project intervention area, relief and rehabilitation, purchase of emergency food and medicine, distribution of seeds, seedlings andsaplings to the benef iciaries, awareness raising on social issues and so on. Through this project a total of Tk. 21.46 m illion w eredistributed among 3651 beneficiaries to construct or repair their houses and manage other family needs.

2.1.6 Financial Services for the Poorest (FSP) ProjectM ost studies of microf inance programs in Bangladesh indicate that the poor, and especially poor w omen, have been effectively targete d,and that microfinance programs have been successful in opening up economic opportunities for their clients, increasing access toresources and contributing to t heir confidence and w ell-being. How ever the poor are not a homogenous group. W ithin the ranks of the

poor lie groups w ith low er asset levels, less employment opportunities, greater consumption deficits, and greater vulnerability t o periodiceconomic and social shocks. In Bangladesh, detailed estimates indicate that 27 percent of the rural population, or roughly half of thosebelow the poverty line, are in "absolute poverty". M ost of these hardcore poor suffer from chronic food deficits. The m ajority of t hem areilliterate, own no agricultural land and survive in a situation of endemic insecurity often leading to land eviction, expropriation of assets andphysical violence. Studies, as well as impressionistic evidence, suggest that these hardcore poor generally remain outside the net ofconventional financial services.

Realizing the context BEES targeted those people of Madhobpur upazila under Hobiganj district and started its Financial Services for thePoorest (FSP) Project since J uly 2002 . Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation (PKSF), an organization of Bangladesh g overnment extendedfinancial support to BEES to operate t his project. The major act ivities under this project w ere group formation, social mob ilization, groupmeeting, savings collection, micro credit management, awareness raising, human development, leadership training, and skill training onvarious IGAs. Upto the end of the reporting period BEES promoted 4,098 beneficiaries in 190 groups, provided training on humandevelopment to 3,749 beneficiaries, skill development training to 645 beneficiaries, and organized 3 workshops for them. Side by side, thisorganization provided total loan of Tk. 27.32 million to 3,313 beneficiaries.

2.1.7 M icro-finance and Technical Su pport (M FTS)With a view to increase income and improve the livelihood status of marginal and small farmers, BEES started Micro Finance and TechnicalSupport (MFTS) program since January, 2004. PKSF provided financial assistance for operating this program. The farmers of B.Baria Sadarof B.Baria district and M adhobpur upazila of Hobigonj district w ere the target b eneficiaries of M FTS program.

Poultry and livestock rearing, parent stoc k rearing, cow fatt ening, food trading, mini hatchery, and kitchen gardening w ere the m ajor IGAsof this program. Total 8,744 beneficiaries received loan of Tk. 199.61 million for operating specific IGAs.

Following is the activity status of MFTS:


Table: A ctivity status of M FTSDescript ion June '05 June'06 Grow th

Num ber of associat ion 62 501 439

Num ber of poor m em bers 1007 8235 7228

Num ber of hardcore poor m em bers 95 1964 1869

Outstanding m oney (Tk in lakh) 199.35 369.3 169.95

Loan dist ribut ion (Tk in lakh) 133.37 199.61 66.24

Savings recovery (Tk in lakh) 94.48 148.07 53.59

Training in general livestock 2099 4281 2182

Training in special livestock 25 42 17

Social developm ent 369 719 350


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Above table shows t he significant growt h in June 2006 in all aspects of the program. Am ong all of the m embers 19% w ere the hardcorepoor. BEES organized a 3 day long t raining program for 16 Assist ants (Credit) on M onitoring and Evaluation of Livestoc k Related IGA. It alsoarranged training on "M anagement Information System" for 4 A ccountants. A total of 4,208 beneficiaries and 8 Technical Assistants(Livestock) received training on several technical issues.

2.1.8 M icro-finance for M arginal and Sm all Farm ers (M FM SF) ProjectRecent days most of the organizations concentrated for providing the credit support to the poor population. Now they are extending their

support to the marginal and small farmers considering them as vulnerable group though they are not as poor as the landless people. PKSFlaunched the M icrofinance for M arginal and Small Farmers (M FM SF) project for t hose groups of people w ith t he financial support of theInternational Fund for Agricult ural Development (IFAD) in June 20 05. The objective of M FM SF is to im prove the livelihoods of 210,00 0 poor,small and marginal farmer households by enabling them to access and utilize viable microfinance services to invest in existing and newfarm and off-farm enterprises.

Incorporating technical assistance to the financial services an organization can obtain better results in agricultural production, employmentgeneration; diversify income sources or any other field. In this context both of t hese tw o issues was in build w ith M FM SF project.

Since Septem ber 2005 BEES has been performing its M FM SF project act ivities in Nakla and Sreebordi upazilas under Sherpur district . Inthe m eantime, the project covered 29 villages of 15 unions w here 53 female and 5 m ale groups w ere formed including 1,110 fem ale and90 male members respectively. More than Tk. 58 lakh loan was distributed among the beneficiary members. , and loan recovery was Tk.9.30 lakh, loan outstanding was 48.75 and savings collection was Tk. 10.11 lakh. Stated loan was distributed in different sectors.

Following table shows t he sector-wise investment of loan money:

During the project period 10 BEES staff and 90 beneficiary members received several trainings on agriculture and social issues. Trainingson agriculture include cow fattening, cow rearing, and fish culture. On the other hand, trainings on social issues cover womanempow erment, early marriage, dow ry, hygiene, etc.

2.2 Services under M icro-finance ProgramTo make micro finance program more effective BEES incorporated savings and Sheba package with its credit activity, so at present BEES is

providing three typ es of services, i.e., credit, savings and Sheba package to its benef iciaries. Illustrations of t hese services are as follows:

CreditIn our country, several GO/NGOs provide technical assistance to the rural and urban poor people to enhance their knowledge on differenttechnical issues, but in most of the cases they can not implement in their practical field due to lack of capital. BEES realized it and helpedthose people to mitigate that issue through offering credit facilities in micro finance program. BEES provides credit to those groupmembers who have a certain amount of savings in the organization as an association member.

Key Features of LoansThere are some key features of loan regarding loan range, interest rate, repayment mechanism and loan products. The loan ranges fromTk. 4,000 to 2 0,000 w ith a flat interest rate of 12.50%. Equal w eekly installment is t he repayment m echanism. General loan, sectoralprogram loan, and micro-enterprise development program loan are the major loan products.


Table: sector-w ise investm ent of loan m on ey

Nameof sector Amount of Taka(in lakh) Amount of Taka(in percent)

Crop Production 30.58 52.86

Fruit cultivation 0.15 0.26

Vegetable cultivation 0.39 0.67

Improvement of livestock resources 8.32 14.38

Pisci culture 3.18 5.50

Trading on agricultural input 0.48 0.83

Trading on agricultural market 5.8 10.03

Small trading 1.2 2.07

Others 7.75 13.40

Total 57.85 100.00


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General loan can be taken for employment and income generating activities, whilesectoral program loan can be taken for micro enterprise development like poultry,livestock, agriculture and small business and trade. Unit M anager is allow ed to provideloan up to Tk. 10,000 t o the beneficiaries. Approval is required from A rea M anager forloan in excess of Tk. 10,000 up to 50,000. Program Coordinator approves the loan sizeof up to Tk. 80,000, and in case of excess of Tk. 80,000, the approval of DeputyDirector, M icrofinance is required. Credit is allow ed for a m aximum period of 4 5 w eeks.

SavingsPoor households, in particular, have substantial difficulties c oping w ith even local,idiosyncratic risks. Public policy can help reduce vulnerability by encouraging private,flexible coping mechanisms while discouraging those that are fragile or that hindereconomic and social mobility. Promising policies include creating self-regulating workfareprograms and providing a supportive setting for institutions w orking to improve accessto credit, health insurance, and safe and convenient saving opportunities.

In the credit program of BEES, individual association member can get the loan on thebasis of his/her savings status. For more savings one can get more loans that can beutilized in more profitable sectors.

Sheba PackageOnly the credit is not sufficient to make a person independent; many other necessaryfactors should accompany to im plement t he technical know-how properly. BEESprovides other services alongside credit, specifically a) Insurance b) General andReproductive Health, c) Training and d) Input Delivery under Sheba p ackage forsustainable development of the t arget groups.

During the reporting year BEES provided the following services for the beneficiariesthrough its Sheba package:

InsuranceUnder the Sheba package, BEES introduced the insurance service for all its groupmembers. In case of unwanted death of any member, BEES can recover the outstanding

money from the insurance account of t hat deceased person. On the other hand, thenominee of that person can get services from it. The features of insurance service are:

All BEES group m emb ers are eligible for BEES's insurance service.

BEES insurance covers the death of all borrowers.

The mem bers having loans from BEES are equally eligible for BEES's insuranceservices.

BEES's insurance service provides a capital some of Tk. 5,000-20,000 (US $71-286) to t he nominee of the deceased.

The premium would be taken on the basis of disbursed loan in the rate of 1% fromthe beneficiaries at t he tim e of loan disbursement.

G eneral and Reproductive H ealth ServicesBetter health is the precondition for productivity. Thus to set a continuous effort tomaintain a better health of t he group mem bers M F has been implementing HealthService Activities (HSA) under Sheba Package since 1st July 2002, BEES. With otheractivities HSA is being carried out to bring a development in health related aspects forthe fam ily mem bers of the beneficiaries parallel to M F loan facilities The overallobjective of Sheba Package is to develop and strengthen the beneficiaries' capacity toassess and analyze the scopes, benefits and limitations to make better use ofpreventive health care, essential drugs, limited curative care and referral system. Thetarget beneficiaries of HSA are the group mem bers and their family members as w ell asBEES staff and their family members.



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At present t he paramedics of Sheba Package are providing follow ing services:

Deliver essential drug based limited curative cares

Help for contraceptive selection and adopting birth control m ethod

Deliver Ante-Natal Care (ANC) and Post-Natal Care (PNC) for the pregnant women

Motivate to participate in EPI (Expanded Program on Immunization).

Raise awareness for personal hygiene, nutrition, and population control

Motivate the beneficiaries to participate in the National and International Health Days like National Immunization Day (NID), WorldHealth Day, World AIDS Day, etc.

Till June 2006, a t otal number of 40 paramedics w ere w orking under one M edical Officer. During the reporting period HSA w asimplem ented in N aogaon, Bogra, Gazipur, N arsingdi, Dhaka, Faridpur, Brahm anbaria, Noakhali, Gaibandha, Rajshahi, Sherpur, Kishoregonj,Hobigonj and Chuadanga districts. As of June 2006, a total of 96,377 mem bers (Females 90,399 and m ales 5,978) w ith their familymem bers from a t otal of 4,921 groups from 1,957 villages under 406 unions from above mentioned districts w ere served through ShebaPackage.

During the reporting period, of the total registered cases 4.00% for ARI (Acute Respiratory Infection), 6.33% for diarrhoea, 10.33% formalnutrition, 6.00% for worm infestation, 2.67% for skin diseases and 37.33% were treated as other cases which includes fever, headache,anaemia, hypaeracidity, asthm a, general w eakness, allergy, low back pain, leucorrhoea etc. Am ong the c ases 2.67% and 1.33% receivedAN C (Ant e-natal Care) and PNC (Post-natal Care) respectively. Besides, 0.67% cases w ere imm unized against TT (Tetanous Toxoid).

Am ong contraceptive met hod users 13.67% for Pill,3.33% for condom, 6.00% for injectables, 5.00% forIUD (Intra-ut erine Devices), 0.67% for ligation w ererecorded.

Input D elivery ServicesThrough the Sheba package BEES distribut ed seed,seedling and sapling, fertilizer, pestic ides and ot hernecessary inputs for im plementing their t echnicalknow-how properly and on timely m anner.

During the period of July 2005 to J une 2006 tot alincome from Sheba package w as Tk. 5,423,675.BEES expended Tk. 2,564,107 from this income ondifferent areas, like against the insurance claim,salary, and medicine for health related issues, inputsupply, emergency relief, etc.

2.3 A chievem ents of M icro-finance ProgramDuring the reporting period a total of 96,377 members consisting of 4,921 groups received support from BEES through its micro finance

program. A mong them a total of 1,175 groups consisting of 38,709 m embers have newly been formed against t he target of 1,200 groupshaving 43,000 members respectively. Among the members, 82.54% received loan of Tk. 579.53 million during the said period.

M ore than 94% loan receivers w ere female w ho received loan of Tk. 487.08 m illion w hich marks 84.05% w hile only 15.95% loan receivedby male m embers. By end of the reporting year Tk. 336.67 m illion w as found as outstanding money. It w as found that about 99% loan w asrecovered, reveals a bett er performance. A s of June 2006 Tk. 107.88 m illion was found as savings balance deposited by the client s.

Under the microfinance program, BEES distributed loan among the beneficiaries through different components considering various types ofIGAs. As of June 2006 the com ponent w ise number of m embers, disbursement, recovery, outstanding and savings balance w ere shown inthe following t able:



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Loan w as disbursed considering different t ypes of IGAs like on grocery shop, clothes and readymade garm ents, poultry farm , cow rearing,w ooden furniture, handicrafts, rickshaw /van, pisciculture, fresh vegetable sale, etc. M aximum am ount of loan w as distributed for groceryshop 22%, follow ed by clothes and readymade garments 15%. About 1 0% loan w as distributed for poultry farm. The follow ing table showsthe IGA-specific loan disbursement status of the organization.

Respective field workers of BEES organize meeting once in a weekto collect the installments against the disbursed loan andindividual savings. Different tec hnical issues like family planning,social awareness, various IGA activities, plantation, women right'sand gender equity, disadvantages of dowry and early marriage,utilization of indigenous resources, etc. are also discussed in theweekly meeting.

BEES also established linkages am ong the enterprises, differentmoney lending institutions, raw material suppliers, buyers,shopkeepers, salesman, and ot her GO/N GO stakeholders.

2.4 Constraints of m icro-finance programShortage of fundBEES distributed loan t o the t arget beneficiaries through 90 unit offices. M ost of t he unit offices are being m aintained by PKSF fund. Duringthe reporting year BEES faced the fund crisis for distributing loan among the beneficiaries, especially in non PKSF area.

Staffs and beneficiary mem bers' drop out

It w as identified t hat field staffs' and beneficiary members' drop out w as the m ajor problem in operating the microfinance programproperly. BEES tried to find out the causes of drop out, and took necessary steps to overcome the situation. In case of utilizing loan moneyby the beneficiary mem bers in improper sectors, the drop out rate w as higher.

Strike, blockade and political unrestFrequent strike, blockade and political unrest situat ion w as another limitat ion to operate the program smoot hly. Expect ed number of fieldvisit can not be m ade by the higher authority of the program w ho w as posted at the outside of the respective region.

2.5 Initiatives taken to overcom e constraints To meet up the fund crisis BEES maintained frequent communication with PKSF and submitted necessary documents to get required

amount of loan to disburse

BEES tried to collect more savings from beneficiary level


Table: IG A w ise Loan disbursem ent status

Nameof IGALoan

disbursement

( )

Grocery Shop 22

Cloths and Readymade Garments 15

Poultry Firm 10

M ilking Cow Rearing 8

Workshop/Garage 7

Wood en Furniture 6

Handicrafts 6

Rickshaw/Van 6

Pisciculture 5

Vegetable Sale 5

Others 10

Total 10 0

Table: Com ponent-w ise loan disbu rsem ent, num ber of m em bers, ou tstanding

recovery and savings balance status as on June 2006

Nameof.Program TotalMember(innumber)DisbursedAmount

(in million)TotalRecovery

(in million)Outstanding

(in million)SavingsBalance

(in million)

RM C 50828 1219.76 1068.07 151.69 57.87

UM C 1173 159.50 143.31 16.20 6.21

M E 4405 357.23 292.19 65.04 19.91

FSP 4098 27.32 18.96 8.35 1.94

UP 24372 94.20 40.66 53.54 6.13

SRLP 53 21.46 21.42 0.04 0

M FTS 10199 199.61 162.67 36.93 14.81

M FM SF 1200 5.81 0.93 4.88 1.01

Total: 96377 2084.89 1748.21 336.67 107.88


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Planned accordingly to disburse the money on time as no idle money can exist in the bank

BEES also maint ained good relations w ith Pubali Bank, BRAC Bank, Sonali Bank and Basic Bank to collect fund for facing t he crisis mom ent

For reducing the staffs drop out rate BEES enhanced the salary level considering the category of staffs and arranged in-servicetraining to improve their skills

For reducing the member's drop out rate BEES motivated the members to utilize the money in proper IGAs to get more profit andarranged training on related issues.


A Success Story

Urume Sabna Beauty of age 34 lives at Bhairab in Kishorgonj district with her

husband Mohammad Abdul Latif Mia of age 45 years. She has 3 children;

Anisusjaman 17, Isratjahan 12, and Sakida Rahman 6 years.

Beauty comes from a poor family. She was the fourth among five children of her parent.

She has studied till class eight. Her father was trying to give her marriage soon to

reduce a little bit impoverished. Therefore, she was married to Latif Mia in 1986, 23rd

of November. Latif Mia has passed HSC. In spite of having great eagerness for studies,she could not continue after class eight since the financial condition of her husband was

not so good. But despite struggling against poverty she didn't loss her firm determination

to establish socially and economically in future.

Beauty's present situation tells us, how ambitious Beauty is without a proper

educational background. She has shown the world that a small help in need can

make impossible to possible. BEES has extended its hand in Beauty's need, which

lead her to success. Beauty was introduced with BEES, when BEES field worker went

to Bhairabpur to form a Mohila Samity in the area. She tells that she has shown great

urge and eagerness to be independent and be successful socially and economically in

life. Then with the cooperation of field worker she got opportunity to enroll in the

Bhairabpur Mohila Samity (women's association) of BEES on 19 July 1997 for

changing destiny in a new era of life.

Previously her income was 400/- per month while she used to earn from handicraft items

she made; and her husband was a tutor from which she used to earn 1200/- per month.

Her monthly savings was 100/- after mitigating all the basic needs of her family

somehow but Beauty wanted to be well settled in her life. This ambition and

determination has made the BEES personality feel that she has far more capability of

doing something in life than what she is doing at present. The door towards the stair of

success was opened to Beauty at once.

Beauty took 1st loan Tk. 3,000/- in 1997 from BEES, with that loan she established a

small shoe factory in her house. In the meantime, she took three days training on

social awareness and income generating activities from BEES. Till that very day

Beauty didn't look back. She was trying to implement what she learned from trainingto run her business desirably. Both she and her husband worked together to run the

factory effectively taking suggestion and technical support from BEES. She took 2nd

loan of Tk.5,000/ - and invested that in the factory. Subsequently she took eight times

loan from BEES and every time she took more amount than previous. She has

invested all loan money in her factory. From three years back she has been able to

take loan as small entrepreneur of BEES. Now her shoe factory is an well established

factory. She earns Tk.35,000/ - per month in average from her factory. She has been

able to create employment opportunity in her factory. At present, 40 employees are

working in her factory. Among them 20 are part time employees who are all women

and each of them earns about Tk.80/- per day and the rest 20 are the professional

workers who earn in average Tk.175 -200 per day through the factory.


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Now she is more eager to deposit more money. Previously she would deposit Tk. 10/- per week and now she deposits Tk. 75/- per

week as savings for facing future shocks/needs. Now her savings balance is Tk. 11,871/-. She has also recovered all borrowed money

which has been possible to earn from the shoe factory.

Beauty says, "Before involvement with BEES I had no knowledge to run a business. Now I know how to operate a business and have

gained a clear conception regarding shoe business. I have received training on income generating activities, valuable advices, health

services, advocacy on health, education, women's rights, sanitation, safe water, family planning, nutrition etc. from BEES for which the

awareness of different aspect has been developed. I have been socially and economically empowered. I have achieved capability totake decision individually for facing unavoidable situation. Peoples come to me for taking suggestion on several problems faced by

them. The family value has been raised vertically towards the community people. At present my husband has been employed as a

cashier of working committee of local shoe business cooperative and I am also a member of that committee."

Her two children are going to school regularly. Their parents spend Tk.3000 per month for their education. She wishes to give higher

education to her children which she couldn't take due to poverty. She is now passing respectable life including her family members.

She is now a confident entrepreneur in her locality. Her firm determination and perseverance and effective cooperation of BEES are the

major support behind her success. She wants to expand her business and likes to engage herself in the works that the destitute and

disadvantaged women of the country can be empowered in family as well as in the society.


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Q uality Seeds for a

G ood H arvest ofG olden Tom orrow

3.0 A griculture Program

3.1 A griculture and Social ForestryA healthy environment is one in which people, at home, at workplace and in their communities, has access to safe food and water, hasadequate sanitation and is protected from risks associated with chemical pollution, environmental degradation and disasters. Promotinghealthy environment is, thus, about assessing, correcting, controlling and mitigating environmental factors that can adversely affect health ofpresent and future generations. Environmental health also includes enhancing those aspects of environment that can improve human healthto attain sustainable development of healthy environments.

Reversing the tide of poverty requires action on multiple fronts. Two essential tools are trade and technology. Trade offers the possibility ofincreasing producers' incomes and building real assets that can sustain economic growth. Technology offers the possibility of universalaccess to the know ledge that can spawn innovation.

Agriculture and social forestry is a project that can help eradicate poverty as w ell as ensure a healthy environment. Bangladesh is one of t hemost suitable places to implement the agriculture and social forestry activities, because it has fertile land, in conjunction w ith skilled,dedicated but cheaper labor facilities.

BEES introduced Agriculture and Social Forestry Program in 1975. This program provided technical supports to the farmers, such asintensified use of land through crop cultivation, and introduce diversified crop with modern technology. This program also ensured supply ofquality inputs, like seed, seedling, sapling, etc. to the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries also received quality training from this program, and gotcredit facilities to implem ent their know ledge and skills simult aneously.

3.1.1 O bjectivesTo adopt sustainable agro-technology by target beneficiaries for enhancing the nutritional status and income level of the most vulnerablegroups in the society and enable them to become financially self-reliant through crop diversification, to increase agricultural production andto promote social forestry to bring favorable ecological balance in the environment.

3.1.2 M ajor InterventionsGroup formation, social mobilization, savings and credit management, agro-technology transfer, establish home gardening, conduct agro-demonstration at farmer's field, create awareness related to health, nutrition, personal hygiene and family planning, conduct training andw orkshops for both project st aff and beneficiaries, and distribute seedlings, saplings, grafting, etc. w ere the major interventions ofAgriculture and Social Forestry Program.

3.1.3 A chievem entDuring the reporting period BEES performed the following activies under Agricalture and Forestry Program;



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Im proved Techn ologiesBEES imparted the project beneficiaries with some improved technologies on vegetable seedproduction, integrated nursery, spacing of seed sowing, tree plantation in agricultural crops,homestead gardening, m ini orchard establishment, com post preparation using kitchen w aste anddung, rice-fish production, IPM in vegetable and crops production, and vegetative propagation offruit trees.

A griculture FairBEES participated in several agricultural fairs for the promotion of project interventions as well asto reach faster the mass people of the project area. During the reporting period BEES took part in15 fairs as held in Norshindi, Fraidpur, Gopalgonj, Sherpur, Noakhali, Feni, Chuadanga andM adaripur districts.

D em onstration PlotDemonstrations are designed primarily to show something new to the visitors. To increase thefarm production BEES demonstrated 11 items to the beneficiary farmers in the reporting period.The item s aman, w heat, oil seed, pulses and w inter vegetable cultivation using moderntechnologies, heap compost preparation, green manure, farm yard manure, kitchen gardening,existing fruit trees m anagement, orchard preparation were demonstrated for t he progressivefarmers. Nevertheless, to enhance the nutritional wellbeing through intake of fresh vegetables,

utilization of fellow lands around the homestead as w ell as idle m anpower and to create anadditional source of income w ere some other objectives to set up the dem onstration plots.How ever, a total of 32,546 farmers w ere benefited from this initiative. It w as observed that about85% families had been able to increase their farm production by 7% in the reporting year.

Tree Plan tationEvery year BEES distributes fruit, timber and medicinal trees among the beneficiary members toensure better environment, improve health condition and, above all, enhance economic status ofthe households. In the reporting year BEES distributed different types of 92,413 fruit trees, likemango, jackfruit, carambola, litchi, blackberry, guava, coconut, lotkon and olive through thisprogram. It also distributed 95,394 timber trees, viz., neem, shishu, mehegoni, akashmoni,shegun, raintree, etc. and 24,280 medicinal plants including arjun, hartaki, bohera among thebeneficiaries.

Loan D isbursem entThrough this program total loan of Tk. 53,025,000 w as disbursed among 7,264 farmers forhomestead gardening, and nursery and orchard establishment.

A gricultural Inputs deliveryTo ensure bet terproduct ion BEES deliveredthe quality inputs to t hebeneficiary m embers.Quality inputs includequality seed, fertilizer,

pesticide, seedling/saplingand fingerling. Followingtable shows the number ofbeneficiaries against thetype of inputs.

During the period from July 2005 to June 2006, BEES distributed summer vegetable seeds viz.,okra, red amaranth, ridge gourd, ash gourd and kangkong among 76,213 beneficiaries against thetarget of 80,000. It also distributed winter vegetable seeds viz., bottle gourd, indian spinach, redamaranth, sw eet gourd, and radish among 61,194 beneficiaries against t he target of 65,451.

San itary latrine and tube-w ell distributionBEES distributed 2,689 latrines and 763 tube-w ells among the beneficiary members during July

2005 to June 2006.


Table: Status on Inputs Received by Beneficiaries

Input Num berof beneficiariesreceived

Seed 76,213

Fert ilizer 20,062

Pest ic ide 8,272

Seedlings/Saplings 16,660

Fingerlings 3,060


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Training for project staff and beneficiariesFor better implementation of the planned activities BEES arranged trainings for project staff and beneficiaries according to their need.During the reporting period BEES trained 36 project staff and 1160 beneficiaries on chick, key and model rearing, mini hatchery, poultrymanagement, egg and feed selling, and cattle farming. All the beneficiaries got training on key rearing. On the other hand, only 12beneficiaries received training on mini hatchery. It w as observed, as a result of the training that t he mont hly income of the beneficiaryhouseholds who reared poultry and livestock increased up to Tk.1500.

3.2 Sm allholder A gricultural Im provem ent Project (SA IP)Since May 2001, Smallholder Agricultural Improvement Project (SAIP) started its activities focusing on the disadvantaged tribal (adivasi),landless, marginal and small farmer households. During the period of July'05 to June'06 SAIP provided the support to its beneficiaries inNarshingdi, M onohardi and Sherpur districts. Internat ional Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded this project .

3.2.1 O bjectivesTo improve the socio-economic status of target beneficiaries by promoting food security, nutritional status and agricultural diversification ofthe adivasi who are landless, marginal, and small farmers w ithin the project inte rvention areas.

3.2.2 A chievem entsDuring the reporting period SAIP worked in 358 villages of 10 upazillas

under three districts as mentioned earlier. This time the project extendedits supports to more people and covered another18 villages under thoseupazilas. Seven associations w ere cut dow n but 524 m embers enrolledduring that period and an additional 1,980 members received loan.Among the total members, 81% received loan from BEES. The amount ofoutstanding money w as increased to Tk. 8.51 lakh during July 2005 toJune 2006, and Tk. 733.29 lakh w as distributed t o the beneficiaries.Following is t he sector w ise distribution of loan:

Until June 2005, members made a savings of Tk.168.29 lakh, and duringthe reporting year it was Tk.12.96 lakh.

3.3 Poultry and Livestock ProgramFormulated, tested and implemented in large scale throughout nearly 20 years in Bangladesh, the apparent impact of Bangladesh Semi-scavenging Poultry M odel has been document ed in numerous reports, and has become one of the w orld's best-know n tools for reachingout t o poor female livestock keepers. The Bangladesh poultry model gradually grew out of a food aid project t argeting poor wom en w ithlow food security. By offering combined packages of technical training in poultry and livestock rearing and credit to the beneficiaries,poultry and livestock production was introduced as a means to assist the poor households in creating a source of income.

With the assistance from Bangladesh Government and with its own fund BEES has been operating this program since 1980. For effectiveimplementation of this program BEES provided several support services to the beneficiary members, like training on poultry and livestockrearing and management and on other technical aspects as required, ensured credit as well as vaccination facilities.

Together w ith income generation this program also contributes in creating w omen em pow erment. W omen can earn extra money by sellingmilk, eggs, chicks, chicken etc. Analysis revealed that in more than 70% households involved in poultry and livestock rearing, wom en have

the greater involvement. How ever, family m embers can consume milk, meat, eggs and chicken and get nutrition for leading the healthylife, and can reduce the treatm ent cost.

3.3.1 O bjectivesThe objective of this program is to increase income particularly of women, enhance nutritional status through increasing protein intake ofthe rural poor, reduce poultry and livestock mortality, improve the variety of poultry birds and upgrade the local breeds of livestock throughcrossbreeding.

3.3.2 M ajor InterventionsGroup formation, social mobilization, savings and credit management, conduct training and workshop for project staff and beneficiaries, arrange highbreed poultry birds and cattle, arrange vaccine for poultry and livestock are the major interventions of this program.


Table: Sector w ise distributed loan

Sector

Distributedloan(Tk.in lakh) ( )

Crop Product ion 256.65 35

Livestock Resources 183.32 25

Fish Developm ent 73.33 10

Others 219.99 30

Total 733.29 100


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3.3.3 A chievem entsTotal 10,199 numbers of beneficiaries were covered under this program against a target of14,400. BEES arranged several training sessions related to poultry and livestock for its staff andbeneficiaries. During the rep orting period BEES organized training on chick, key and m odel rearing,mini hatchery, poultry management and cattle farming for 36 st aff and 1,340 beneficiaries.

BEES distributed loan of Tk. 63,804,000 among 8,708 beneficiaries. During the reporting period,678 poultry and 144 cattle farms w ere established, where 135,680 poultry birds and 5,720 cattle

w ere found respectively. Total 314,398 poultry and 9,668 catt le w ere vaccinated under t hisprogram. Through involving with poultry and livestock activity beneficiary members have beenable to raise their monthly income by Tk. 1,500 in average.

3.4 Constraints of agricultural

programLack of expertise on m odern cultivation techniquesIn our country most of the farmers still use traditional techniques to cultivate their crops. They arenot so aw are about t he modern technologies, so they get less profit and loss interest onagricultural activities. During the reporting period this pract ice w as also found like before.

U navailability of quality inputsTimely not to get quality seeds, fertilizer and other inputs was another problem to have expectedcrops during the reporting year. Utilizing of quality seeds, fertilizer and other materials in time wasvery essential to grow more am ount as w ell as quality production of crops.

G radu al redu cing of agricultural landAs an overpopulated country, the agricultural land of Bangladesh has been continuously reducingday by day. During the reporting year it w as another major problem to find out the farmers w ithsuitable cultivable land.

3.5 Initiatives taken to overcom e

constraints BEES arranged discussion session on new improved cultivation technique once in a year

BEES advised the local vendors to keep the quality inputs on time

BEES distributed w inter and summ er vegetable seeds among the farm ers ensuring thequality seeds from w ell renowned seed vendors. BEES distributed 5 t ypes of w inter and 5types of summ er vegetable seeds among its beneficiary members.

Respective field workers organized the training on quality seed production

BEES provided the loan to purchase the quality inputs

Field w orkers of BEES inspired the farm ers to bring the fellow land for cultivation

Inspired for utilizing the land more time in a year for more than one cropping

Inspired to cultivate improved varieties of crops


Table: Category w ise no. of participants attended in the different training session

Trainingtopics Category wiseno. of participantsattendedStaff Beneficiaries

Chick rearing 36 60

Key rearing 36 1160

M odel rearing 36 25

M ini hatchery 36 12

Poult ry M anagem ent 36 33

Cat t le Farm ing 36 50


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D ay O ld Chick Rearer:

Success story of M st. H ena BagumHena Begum, a woman of 45 years old, was one of the million housewives in the area who was

struggling to live for an ordinary life with food, clothes and other basic amenities for her family.She is married and has four sons and one daughter. Her husband's name is Mohammad Zillur

Rahman, living in the village Gowtompara under Brammanbaria district.

Her husband worked as a day labor and earned only Tk. 3000/- per month. He was only the

earning member in the family. Hena used to waste time as a housewife and couldn't add any

earning with the family income. On the other hand, the expenditure of the family was increasing

day by day as their children were growing and their requirements were rising. She faced

difficulties in arranging daily meals for her family members, she couldn't purchase sufficient

clothes, and she couldn't spend necessary mon

BEES Annual Report 2005-2006

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Transcript of BEES Annual Report 2005-2006