Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Partners
Coastal Sindh, Pakistan

May 22, 2008    

Name of project: Pakistan Graduation Pilot
Project implementer: Aga Khan Planning and Building Services Pakistan (AKPBSP), Badin Rural Development Society (BRDS), Indus Earth Trust (IET), Sindh Agricultural and Forestry Workers Coordinating Organization (SAFWCO), and Orangi Charitable Trust (OCT)
Project partners: Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund
Location: Coastal Sindh
Start date: 2007
No. of clients reached: 1,000 families (5 x 200)
Research: Impact assessment by Innovations for Poverty Action; qualitative research by Brac Development Institute
Consumption support: Food and cash transfers for an equivalent of US$12/month, for 18 months
Livelihoods: Petty trade, crafts, and livestock
Financial service: Community savings
Additional services: Health care, water sanitation

Five nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners of the government-run Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund are implementing this pilot along 150 kilometers of coastal Sindh. The organizations (AKPBSP, BRDS, IET, SAFWCO and OCT) are located in neighboring areas outside of Karachi and along the coast.

Each organization brings a different set of core activities, and together they offer a range of services, including desalination, water provision, sanitation improvements, drought mitigation, microfinance, health, and education. Coastal Sindh has experienced dramatic climate change. Rising water levels, increasing salinity, torrential rains, and an aqueduct have changed the face of this land, which has become increasingly depopulated as desperate families abandon their homes to move inland to irrigated lands.

Project status
In this pilot, each of the five organizations serves 200 beneficiaries at a cost of $1,000 each. Households targeted own less than two acres of land, have no salaried employed person in the household, have no working male member, do not own buffaloes or camels, have no separate room for cooking inside the home, and have no type of music player. Secondary criteria to participate in the program included households with a daily income below Rs.25 per person per day, those that had no productive assets, and those that were indebted or dependent on charity. Beneficiaries receive $4 a week for consumption, $4 a week for healthcare, and an asset worth $250. Though the cost of materials is comparatively low, the operational expenses are quite high. The NGO partners are unable to cross-subsidize branch costs, and each incur significant overhead costs. Moreover, depopulation has enabled the government to withdraw from essential service provision, such as water, education, and health, and these NGOs fill much of the gaps. In many of these villages, people depend on water trucks that arrive every couple of days to purchase water for drinking and cooking. The project addresses urgent food, water, and shelter needs, as well as longer term asset building and market access.

The five organizations are implementing the pilot in parallel, adapting the model to local needs and their own capacities. All five organizations are trying to provide members with access to health care services. BRDS has a preexisting health program. AKPBS and others are linking up with existing hospitals and health care facilities. IET is trying to set up a mobile health clinic.