IFPRI Images
MOTIVATION
In 1991 IFPRI conducted a comprehensive study of a targeted food subsidy program in Bangladesh known as palli (rural) rationing. The Institute found that subsidies equivalent to US$60 million were being provided each year to run the program but about 70 percent of the subsidized food (mostly rice) was not actually making its way to the poor people who needed it. Subsequently the government abolished the Palli Rationing Program in May 1992, primarily due to these findings. IFPRI’s objective documentation of the food rations missing their intended targets provided a timely rationale for the program’s abolition.
But, without the food rationing program, the Public Food Distribution System was imbalanced, since it had distributed 20 percent of all public food grains. Moreover, the government was concerned about the food security of the 6.1 million households that were formerly entitled to food rations. To be able to more effectively target food subsidies to the poor, the Ministry of Finance asked IFPRI to conduct a systematic review of alternative options. The Working Group on Targeted Food Interventions, which was chaired by IFPRI, introduced the concept of the Food for Education program in August 1992, where, families were given food in exchange for their children’s continued attendance in school. At that time, this was a new idea in international development, so there were no international precedents to draw on. The IFPRI chaired working group’s innovative concept of the program was endorsed by the World Bank as a promising program for implementation by the Government of Bangladesh.
OUTCOMES
- Based on the recommendation from IFPRI and its partners, the Bangladesh government introduced a pilot Food for Education program in July 1993. It made use of the savings accumulated from the termination of Palli Rationing in a more effectively targeted, food-based intervention.
- In a 1994 assessment of the program, IFPRI documented an increase in primary school enrollment (higher for girls than boys) and attendance and a decrease in dropout rates. The program had also been cost-effective in transferring income benefits to low-income households through food grain entitlements.
- Due to effective targeting, the program operated with a low level of food leakage or misuse of food grains in the public food distribution system and the government decided to expand it nationwide.
- According to a 2004 impact assessment study, the Food for Education program increased school participation in Bangladesh by 30 percent. The experience of developing and implementing the program along with IFPRI’s documentation of its effectiveness were influential in the Global Food for Education program established by the US Department of Agriculture and the US Agency for International Development.
