Freedom From Want reviewed on Development Finance Network Discussion List

The following review of Freedom From Want was posted by Dale Adams on the Development Finance Network Discussion list. Thanks, Dale!

The following new book is a super read: Ian Smillie, Freedom From Want: The Remarkable Success Story of BRAC, The Global Grassroots Organization That's Winning the Fight Against Poverty, Sterling, Virginia: Kumarian Press, 2009.

It is one of the most interesting books on development I've read the past few years -- it is extremely well written. It made me wonder if Smilie was an English major. His writing is crisp, warm, and engaging. I especially liked the way he briefly described the personal lives of the main players in BRAC.

In the 1970s I met Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of BRAC, during one of my assignments in Bangladesh, but I didn't think or read much about BRAC thereafter. Smillie's book educated me on the breadth and depth of BRAC's development activities. It is impressive and quite different from the dominant model used in the microfinance industry.

Five aspects of the BRAC story are particularly interesting:

First, BRAC uses a holistic approach to development. Microcredit is just one arrow in their quiver. They do education, health, business development, deposit mobilization, and a lot of other stuff. Their activities range from dairy product plants, to a bank, and to a University. All this made me wonder at the audaciousness of their reach. How can one leader and one organization successfully manage so many diverse activities? I would have been amazed if they had only developed a poultry industry, let alone all the other successful enterprises under the BRAC umbrella.

Second, Abed recognized that microenterprises don't produce many new jobs or products. As a result, he promotes small businesses. I especially related to the following comment in the book: "The engine (of development) had to be new productive enterprises -- people moving beyond the kiosk economy and what had sustained villages in the past. It required people producing....and definitely producing new things."

Third, applied research is a major part of their program. They do something, then they study what was done, and then adjust their programs accordingly.

Fourth, the book made me appreciate leadership. One has to be amazed that people like Abed and Yunus can develop and manage huge organizations that deal with the poor, and that are efficient and free of corruption, in a sea of corruption orchestrated by inept politicians. Why don't some quality people such as Abed float to the top in the political system in Bangladesh? Its a sad commentary when NGOs have to fill the gap in poverty alleviation left by inept governments.

Finally, Smillie provides brief descriptions of the extension of BRAC's activities into other countries: Afghanistan and Tanzania. It will be interest to see if their methodology has legs in other cultures.................................lizzy borden.