Evidence shows that ultra-poor households are typically unable to participate in
mainstream poverty alleviation programmes. In response, an international NGO
called BRAC in Bangladesh implemented the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty
Reduction: Targeted Ultra-Poor (CFPR: TUP) programme that explicitly targets those
living below $0.60-$0.70/day. The innovative scheme combines the provision of
income generating assets with an integrated approach that includes multifaceted
training on entrepreneurial activities, health, nutrition, social and political awareness
training over a period of two years. A number of papers have established the positive
impact of the programme on various socioeconomic indicators of participants and
the positive spill overs to non-participants. This is the first paper to evaluate the
effects of CFPR on nutritional outcomes using data from a randomised control trial
covering 26997 households and panel data over a four year period. We find large
improvements in nutritional outcomes among household members who participate in
CFPR. The impact is most notable for children under 5 where the likelihood of wasting
reduces by 8 percentage points (pp) and the likelihood of being underweight by 19
pp. Behavioural changes, such as increased duration of exclusive breastfeeding,
administration of vitamin A appear to be the primary drivers of nutritional improvements
for children; while food security and hygiene practices are important pathways for
improvements in adults’ nutritional status. Spill over effects on non-participants are
generally half the size of the main effect, and are only found for poor non-participants
suggesting that behavioural changes are more likely to be adopted by groups of
similar socioeconomic status. Overall, we conclude that asset transfer programmes
such as the CFPR can have large positive long term health effects and lead to positive
externalities.