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Information on the Basic Necessities Survey (BNS) method

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NEW DOCUMENTS
2007
2006
2001
  • FREEDOM FROM HUNGER Mali Poverty Outreach Study of the Kafo Jiginew and Nyèsigiso Credit and Savings with Education Programs Anastase Nteziyaremye and Barbara MkNelly May 2001 RESEARCH PAPER NO. 7. See section 1.0 Clients’ Relative Poverty by Financial Product: Basic Needs Survey (pages 9-11 on the method, pages 17-25 on the results and pages 81-83 for the BNS survey format). The BNS survey was used to find out if a specific credit package (CEE)  was better at reaching relatively poorer households than the credit unions’ other financial products? In total, 498 randomly selected clients from different financial products of two credit union networks were interviewed. The method and results are both well described. (posted 18/12/06)
1998
1997
PAPERS ON RELATED METHODS OF POVERTY MEASUREMENT
2006
1999
WHAT IS THE BNS?

The Basic Necessities Survey (BNS) is a method of measuring poverty that is:
  • simple to design and implement. The results are easy to analyse and to communicate to others
  • democratic in the way that it identifies what continutes poverty and who is poor
  • rights based, in its emphasis on entitlement

The Basic Necessities Survey (BNS) has not been invented de novo. It build on and adapts earlier methods that have been used to measure poverty that measure deprivation and which emphasise the "consensual" definition of poverty.  The BNS was developed by Rick Davies in 1997, and implemented by ActionAid Vietnam in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2006.  It has also since been used in Mali in 2001 by Freedom From Hunger (see under New Documents above).

The main documents which informed the design of the BNS were:
  • Frayman, H (1991) Breadline Britain 1990s. Booklet by London Weekend Television.
  • Mack, J., and Lansley, S. (1985) Poor Britain. Allen and Unwin. London.
  • Gordon, D., Pantazis, C (eds) (1997) Breadline Britain 1990s. Ashgate Publishers Ltd.
    UK.
  • Hallerod, B. (1994) A New Approach to the Direct Consensual Measurement of
    Poverty    . Social Policy Research Centre Discussion Paper No. 50. University of New
    South Wales.
  • Hallerod, B. (1994) Poverty in Sweden: A New Approach to the Direct Measurement
    of Consensual Poverty. UMEA Studies in Sociology No. 106. Umea University. Umea.
HOW-TO-DO-IT RESOURCES
  • A BNS Guide
  • An Excel file containing 
    • a survey format, for use in interviews
    • a blank data entry form, showig the overall layout
    • an example data entry sheet, with real data and including some analysis 
  • A checklist of steps to taken when analysing the BNS survey results
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