Mutual Support Arrangements Among the Poor in South Asia

The paper discusses the significance of mutual support arrangements for the coping, consolidation and emancipation needs of the poor in South Asia. It draws on the results of fieldwork in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Mutual support groups among agricultural labourers and rotating savings and credit associations of urban sweepers are analyzed regarding their potential to affect five aspects of poverty: vulnerability, lack of dignity, little power to bargain or resist, lack of entitlements, weak coping capacity. It is concluded that the rotating savings and credit associations do fit specifically the consolidation and emancipation needs of the moderately poor, whereas the mutual support groups also address the special needs of the very poor and tend to reduce their vulnerability.