Studying India’s livelihoods program and its early impacts
Launched in 2011, India’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) connects the rural poor to sustainable livelihoods and financial services. In partnership with the Ministry of Rural Development, the Gates Foundation, and the World Bank, 3ie has been generating rigorous evidence on the program’s impact, with a particular focus on women’s income, assets, and decision-making. Our first large-scale evaluation of NRLM in 2019 surveyed over 25,000 households across nine states, and the findings have directly informed the design and execution of several aspects of DAY-NRLM.
3ie study and proof-of-concept
3ie, along with Vrutti and CMS, conducted a large-scale evaluation across nine states of the country where the National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) was implemented from July 2011 to June 2018. Our study facilitated the establishment of DAY-NRLM's “proof-of-concept”. Our evaluation report underscores NRLP’s impacts on a range of household and individual-level economic, social and empowerment outcomes. Its authors also assess the quality of institutions created by the program. This report is listed on the Indian government’s DAY-NRLM website as one of the key documents of the National Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (NRLPS).
- View impact evaluation report
- View impact evaluation brief (English | Hindi)
- View briefing note on farm-based activities
- View briefing note on financial inclusion
- View briefing note on institution building, women’s empowerment and convergence
In partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, Yale University and Vrutti Livelihoods Resources Centre, 3ie also produced thematic papers using the data collected for the DAY-NRLM evaluation.
- Understanding caste-based differences in self help groups: Evidence from India’s NRLM program
- Improving delivery and impacts of pro-poor programs
- The policies that empower women: empirical evidence from India’s National Rural Livelihoods Project (related Journal article and Brief)
- Women’s economic status and son preference: empirical evidence from private school enrolment in India
- Understanding India’s self-help groups: an organizational anatomy of functionality in a district in Madhya Pradesh
A full list of publications is available in the ‘Related content’ section below.
Evidence mapping and synthesis
Evidence gap map on group-based livelihood interventions in L&MICs
This map takes stock of available evidence on the impact of group-based livelihoods programmes on economic, social and empowerment outcomes in low-and middle-income countries.
View map | View report | View blog
Synthesis of livelihoods programmes in L&MICs
This report systematically reviews existing evidence from group-based livelihoods interventions in L&MICs with the objective of answering what works, how, why and for whom.
Related research
Process and impact evaluation of a rural development programme in Bihar
3ie has conducted a process evaluation and an impact evaluation of the Women’s Advancement in Rural Development and Agriculture (WARDA) programme, which focuses on household economic welfare, as measured by income levels and women’s empowerment. Technoserve, JEEViKA and the Gates Foundation collaborated to provide technical assistance on this intervention, develop a multi-year roadmap to form and facilitate smallholding women farmers’ producer groups.
View process evaluation report | View media article
Can collectives help overcome challenges facing small and marginal farmers in India?
This brief summarises findings from a literature review that 3ie commissioned to understand how and whether farmer collectives have achieved their stated aims, and to analyse factors affecting their performance. This is part of a wider initiative to build and consolidate evidence on group-based livelihood initiatives in India.
News
- This Ideas for India article, co-authored by Dr Anjini Kochar, evaluates whether self-help group (SHG) program in Bihar has improved risk-sharing by examining differences in village-level variance of consumption growth. (read in Hindi)
- In this Ideas for India article, Anjini Kochar, C. S. Nagabhusana, Ritwik Sarkar, Rohan Shah, Geeta Singh talk about how financial access impacts women’s decision-making role in households.
- In this Ideas for India article, Chandan Jain, Krishna Kejriwal, Ritwik Sarkar and Pooja Sengupta analyze caste-based differences in self-help groups within the NRLM program.
- This Indian Express article recaps a discussion on 'Women Collectives, Changemakers from the ground up' in which Dr Anjini Kochar spoke about financial inclusion. The panel discussion was held as part of the IE THINC Third edition.
- In this Hindustan Times article, Dr Anjini Kochar examines the reasons behind the low and declining labour force participation rate of women in India.
- In this Hindustan Times article, Dr Anjini Kochar explains the persistence for son preference, particularly in private school enrolments in rural India.
- In a recent IndiaSpend article on the impact of COVID on women's collectives, Dr Bidisha Barooah talks about what needs to change in the existing program design.
- A new issue brief on ten years of the NRLM published by the Observer Research Foundation, cites 3ie’s evaluation and other work on self-help groups.
- An IndiaSpend article contextualizes 3ie's evaluation evidence and explores how NRLM, in particular women's SHGs, boost household income.
- In this Indian Express article, 3ie staff write about the barriers to effective implementation of farmer-producer companies.
- In an article for the Financial Express, Dr Anjini Kochar explains how the NRLM can help transform women's lives.
Events
- Asian Evaluation Week, 13 September 2023 | Watch Additional Secretary, MoRD present on Building resilience and Accountability: Motivating Policy Makers to use knowledge and evaluative evidence (download slides)
- Financial Inclusion Week 2021, 1 November | Improving last-mile delivery of financial services and welfare programs
- India Rural Colloquy, Transform Rural India Foundation, August 2021 | Watch recorded event on women’s collectives and rural economic empowerment
- Livelihoods India Summit, January 2021 | Watch recorded event on the way ahead for NRLM
- Livelihoods India Summit, January 2021 Watch recorded event on empowering women in rural India
- 3ie Evidence Dialogues, October 2020 | Watch recorded event on women’s economic empowerment
- Evidence-informed policymaking for rural transformation, January 2020 | Watch recorded sessions
Other activities
We also collaborated with JEEVikA (Bihar Livelihoods Mission) on a management information system of a sanitation program and conducted some formative research to inform the implementation of Project Mesha, a community-based program for goat rearing. For queries about this work, please write to info@3ieimpact.org
Additional reading | Compiled list of World Bank resources on rural growth
