Katalyst: Making Markets Work for the Poor in Bagladesh

Yesterday morning, approximately 155 participants in the 57th Breakfast Seminar were fortunate to listen to Prashant Rana of Swisscontact present on “Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P): Experience, Results and Lessons from Katalyst.” Rana joined us from Bangladesh to discuss both the M4P approach to poverty alleviation, as well as its specific implementation through the Katalyst project.

Rana began by giving a history and overview of the M4P model which is supported by donor organizations like DFID, Sida and SDC. According to the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development, “the central idea is that the poor are dependent on market systems for their livelihoods. Therefore changing those market systems to work more effectively and sustainably for the poor will improve their livelihoods and consequently reduce poverty.” He described how M4P with the USAID and World Bank Value Chain framework are both similar and different. According to Rana, the two approaches are very similar, especially when considering the more robust VC framework that incorporates enabling environment considerations beyond the “supply chain.” Where he sees differences are in M4P’s emphasis on informal rules/norms, its flexibility, its portfolio approach and its application in what he called non-sectors (activities without a traditional supply chain, e.g. health care and public services).

The morning’s seminar was then contextualized in a discussion about Katalyst’s mission, foundation, processes, results, and lessons learned from the program’s years spent in Bangladesh. The M4P program Katalyst has been implemented by Swisscontact and is focused on poverty alleviation achieved by improving the competitiveness of selected sectors in the economy and reaching out to SMEs to gain access to knowledge, information, and skills that are vital to business growth.

Rana discussed several of Katalyst’s 15 target sectors in-depth, all of which have seen positive growth both in size, income, and customer access, although the specific interventions were different every time - adapted to the circumstances of the market. For that reason, Rana stressed the need for financial, sector, and market analysis (conducted both before and during the implementation period). He then gave a run-down of basic approaches and results so far for some of Katalyst’s interventions. Here are just a few examples:

• Fish: Used lead firms and linked to experts in academia
  • Reached 100,000 farmers by 2010
• Maize: Addressed food security issues of competing crop rotations
  • Reached 55,000 farmers and increased income by US$3.5 million
• Health Care: Employed capacity building and advocacy to develop workforce training systems
  • Enrolled 10,000 health workers in 142 training institutes

This portfolio approach, where the project and its staff work across many sectors, has the additional benefit, according to Rana, of creating a flexible, motivated team who can remain objective. It also allows for more efficient capacity utilization when enabling environment shifts occur, affecting sectors differently.

In closing, Prashant Rana encouraged those interested to visit the Katalyst and M4P websites to learn more about their work in Bangladesh and the rest of the world.