Cost-benefit Analysis of CFPR
This paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of the first cohort (2002-03) of selected ultra poor (SUP) households of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committees (BRAC) Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction program (CFPR).
The analysis calculates program benefits using primary data collected through a set of surveys. It measures benefit as the increase in expenditure on food consumption, increase in medical expenses and/or income foregone from workdays lost as a result of an increase in the (financial) capacity to take such decisions, and increase in net financial and housing assets of the SUP households. Study findings include:
- Using consumption indicators the study finds that at a 12 percent discount rate and a 12-year life of benefits, the benefit-cost (B-C) ratio is 5.07;
- Using income method, the B-C ratio is 3.83;
- Sensitivity analysis of the B-C ratio using consumption indicators shows that within a reasonable range of assumptions, the B-C ratio lies in the range 3.12 - 6.23.
The analysis shows that the special investment program of CFPR represents productive use of development funds for the benefit of ultra poor households in Bangladesh.
