UNCDF has launched the Final Evaluation for the “Merchant development driving rural markets in Bangladesh” (SHIFT/MDDRM) initiative.

With financial support from the European Union (EU), SHIFT/MDDRM aims to improve living standards of vulnerable groups in rural Bangladesh by opening doors to digital financial inclusion, expanding the potential for increased enterprise development, employment and increased economic participation.

The Evaluation is designed and managed by UNCDF Evaluation Unit and will be conducted by independent experts from Microfinanza.

Support to rural micro-merchants

The Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations for the SAARC countries (SHIFT in SAARC) is a regional market-facilitation initiative with the aim to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty rates in SAARC countries by 2021. The initiative seeks to stimulate investment, business innovations and regulatory reform to expand economic participation and opportunities for women and help small and growing businesses to be active agents in the formal economy.

In 2017, a micro-merchant-focused component was added to SHIFT in Bangladesh with support from the European Union (EU). The new “Merchant development driving rural markets” (SHIFT/MDDRM) component aims at fostering business growth and financial inclusion of micro-merchants in Northern Bangladesh through facilitating capacity building and business innovation.

Under UNCDF SHIFT, the MDDRM component supports the growth and competitiveness of retail micro-merchants in rural Bangladesh, through tighter vertical integration with Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) value chains, and through stronger horizontal integration with digital payment and mobile commerce platforms.

The initiative has the overall objective of reducing poverty in rural Bangladesh through increased consumption, employment, and reduced gender disparities in economic participation and financial access.

Details of the evaluation

The evaluation will provide UNCDF and partners with evaluative evidence to answer questions around the relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the initiative. It will be transparent, participatory and ready to use. It will use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess multiple dimensions and different target groups, by maintaining a strong focus on low-income customers, women, growing businesses and communities in the local areas:

• Macro level: the broader financial inclusion ecosystem including policymakers and regulators from the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance;
• Meso and market levels: market enablers such as industry apex organisations and business associations including implementing partners, financial service providers and real economy business, with a focus on FCMG;
• Client level: low-income groups, such as micro-merchants (shopkeepers), micro-franchisees, mostly Kallyani women based in the northern districts of Jamalpur, Sherpur, Tangail, and Siranjgonj, and low-income rural consumers.

The evaluation will shed light on the contribution of the MDDRM component to UNCDF’s work to financial inclusion in Bangladesh and to UNCDF’s broader digital financial inclusion strategy. Because it is a final evaluation, more emphasis will be placed on effectiveness, likely impact, and prospects for long-term sustainability of the SHIFT MDDRM approach towards the development of the micro-merchants subsector as a key driver of rural markets in Bangladesh.