% pop. below % pop.

below
poverty line $1/day
Case Study (Table 1.1) (Table 1.1)
CARE Rwanda 60% 51.70%

Trickle Up Mali 63.80% 72.30%

PACT Nepal 30.90% 39.10%

Friendship Bridge 56% 13.50%
Guatemala

FFH/RCPB Burkina 46.40% 27.20%

Faso
Save/Nirdhan 42% 38%
Nepal
ASA India 26.10% 26.10%
CCF India 28.60% 34.70%
Pro Mujer Peru 49% 12.50%

MEDA Pakistan 35% (2000- 17%

01); 24%
(2004-05)
ABA Egypt 16.70% 3.10%
Kenya BDS 40% 22.80%
 1.2.1.1 Geographic target area
within country
rural provinces Umutara, Gikongoro,
Gitarama, Byumba, Butare and Kigali
Ngali (Rural Kigali)

Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa

that covers 1.2 million square kilometer,
has an estimated population of 11.4
million, which is growing at 2.2% per
year. The overall population density is
only 10 people per square kilometer.
Over 80% of its population is rural and
46% is under 15 years old. Almost 60%
of Mali's land area, corresponding to the
three northern regions of Timbuktu, Gao
and Kidal, is semi-arid or arid. Two of
Africa's largest rivers, the 900-kilometre
Senegal River and the 1 600-kilometre
Niger River, flow through the country. In
addition to fishing and dry season
grazing areas, both rivers have vast
floodplains where crops are cultivated;
crops are also grown around permanent
lakes and depressions.

WEP started out in 21 of Nepal's 75

districts in Southern Nepal: these include
19 (all but one, Dang) districts in the
Terai as well as Surkhet and Ilam (Hill
districts). Almost the entire target area is
rural and densely populated. The Terai is
the most densely populated region of
Nepal (254 persons per square
kilometer, versus 125 for country); this
population density has almost doubled in
the last two decades as a result of the
north-south movement of the population
and immigration. The Terai belt accounts
for almost 60 per cent of Nepal's
population.
Guatemala is ranked 118 in the human
development index. According to the
World Bank, 56.2% of Guatemala’s
population lives below the poverty line.
Poverty is widespread in Guatemala; but
the indigenous farmers are the poorest.

The poorest regions in Guatemala are

the ones heavily populated by
indigenous people, such as Alta y Baja
Verapaz, Totonicapán, Sololá,
Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, San
Marcos and El Quiché. 89.5% of
Guatemala’s indigenous population is
poor; 76% is extremely poor; 10.5%
classifies as not poor.

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in

the Sahelian region of West Africa. Its
population of 13.2 million inhabitants
occupies a territory of 274,000 square
kilometers. Much of the population is
concentrated in the Central Plateau
region and around Ouagadougou
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in
the world, with 40% of its population
living below the poverty line. Located in
southern Asia, Nepal is landlocked and
strategically wedged between two
powerful neighbors, China and India. At
close to 150,000 square kilometers,
Nepal is slightly larger than the state of
Arkansas. Geographically the country is
divided into three distinct regions, the
tarai flat plain of the Ganges River in
south, the central hill region, and the
rugged Himalayas in north. Mountains
cover 75% of Nepal, which is home to 8
out of 10 of the world's tallest
mountains, including Mount Everest.
The estimated population of Nepal in
2005 was more than 27.6 million, with a
growth rate of 2.16% and a life
expectancy of 60 years.
According to World Bank, out of a total
world population of 6 billion, a total of
1.2 billion people, live on less than $1
per day (World Bank, 2004). The majority
of them live in Asia. Poverty is
considered affecting over 40% of the
population of South Asia. India alone is
said to host about one third of the
world's poor. 70% of India's over 1 billion
inhabitants live in rural or semi urban
areas. 26% or 260 million people live
below the poverty line of $1 per day
(World Bank, 2004). Poverty and rural
development remains the number one
issue in India. Government estimates
show that over 250 million people are
left without proper access to credit
despite a network of 33 thousand rural
and semi urban branches of commercial
banks, 14 thousand branches of Regional
Rural Banks (RRBs) and 92 thousand
outlets of cooperatives (Planet Finance,
2002). The poorest people very often do
not comply with the norms that banks
set for accessing credit. They neither
have salary certificates nor the required
collateral to show as security against the
loan. In India, the poorest citizens access
credit mostly through informal channels
such as the village moneylenders who
lend at very high interest rates whereby
the result is that the poor therefore
remain perennially debt-ridden which
ultimately results in them loosing their
dignity. To date in India, over an
estimated 8 million poor people (mostly
rural women) benefit from microfinance
services (Chakrabarti, 2004), thereby
leaving a vast unmet demand for
developing credit, savings and insurance
activities which is termed as
microfinance services targeted at what is
until today referred to as the non-
bankable sector. The perpetual
dependence of the rural poor on various
informal sources of credit, widespread
unemployment, illiteracy and non-
availability of technical support to such
households demonstrate the high level
of demand for credit. Estimates of the
demand for credit in the rural areas,
particularly among the unorganized
workforce and the women vary from at
least US$ 3.3 billion on the basis of a
minimum need of US$ 44.4 per family to
US$ 11.1 billion (Planet Finance, 2002).
The latter estimate envisages that
approximately 75 million households
The Livelihood and Economic
Enhancement of Poor (LEEP) program of
CCF India operates in 54 Districts in 16
States and Union Territories (UT).
Collectively, the states where LEEP
operates represent 68.9% of the
population of India. A map which shows
the states where CCF India operates is
included as Appendix 1. At the current
level of funding, each of LEEP’s 74
partners serves about 1,000 participants
that are typically located in a clustered
area of 20-30 villages.
Peruvian territory covers a surface area
of 1.285.216 km². A total of 52.1% of the
population lives on the coast, while
36.9% live in the Andes and 11% live in
the Amazon. The Peruvian population
currently numbers 27.2 million people.
The average population density is 21.2
inhabitants per square kilometer, with a
growth rate of 2.6% a year. As a result,
the Peruvian population is forecast to
increase by more than half a million
people per year. In Peru, state power has
been sub-divided into 24 regions, with
the capital being the Lima Region. Pro
Mujer began its activities in Peru in the
Puno Region, which is located in
southern Peru (near the border with
Bolivia). Pro Mujer currently works in four
regions (Puno, Tacna, Moquegua and
Apurimac), with activities in seven
branch offices.

Behind the Veil targets rural

embroiderers in specific districts of three
provinces: Multan in Punjab; Quetta in
Balochistan; Interior Sindh: especially
Thatta and Hyderbad. The program links
women to buyers in urban areas of these
districts as well as to markets in Karachi
(Sindh) and Islamabad (Punjab).
ABA is active in the governorates of
Alexandria since its inception and, since
1997; it expanded its geographical
coverage to other neighboring
governorates: Kafr El Sheikh, Behira,
Matrouh and Menoufia.
Kenya, Nyanza Province, Suba District:
Administratively, Suba district is divided
into five administrative divisions,
Mbita/Rusinga Island; Gwasi; Mfangano;
Central and Lambwe. The district covers
as area of 1,055 square kilometers, of
which three quarters is covered by Lake
Victoria. The district is predominately
rural, with a mix of small scale farms and
fishing communities in the divisions
bordering or part of Lake Victoria. Kenya
BDS operates on 17 beaches on Rusinga
and Mgangano islands: Rusinga
(Nyagina, Luanda Rhombo, Litare,
Kolunga and Nyachebe, Gumba, Tabla),
and Mfangano (Sena, Wakula,
Nyawalongo, Milundu, Konyahera,Yokia,
Ugina, Mauta, Mrongo and Nyakweri).
The program serves rural island
communities. Rusinga Island can be
reached by a causeway linked to Mbtia
Point the most urban area in the district;
however the roads to Mbtia are poor and
often unaccessible during the rainy
season due to flooding. Relative to other
districts in the Province Mbita is more of
a small town than a city and offers few
services.. Mfangano island is reached by
boat or air. From both islands it takes
approximately 1.5 days to travel to
urban areas and back, including the
Homa Bay district which borders Suba
district and is the location of the nearest
bank and government health center.
 1.2.4.1, 1.2.4.2, 1.2.4.3 Poverty data on target area
65.7% below national poverty line; 45.8% in extreme poverty;
Extreme poverty by province – Umutara (41.9%), Gikongoro (69.7%),
Gitarama (44%), Byumba (56.1%), Butare (64.4%), Kigali Ngali
(59.9%)
Mali is one of the world's poorest countries and an estimated 88% of
the poor live in rural areas. Women are more affected by poverty than
men; their access to health services is extremely precarious. Of
women over 15 years of age, 80% are illiterate and cultural norms
often limit their access to information, resources and participation in
decision-making. Chronic hunger affects at least one fifth of the
population and malnutrition is widespread. TU operates in three of
the four regions with highest poverty incidence: Mopti, Timbuktu, and
Gao. The choice to target Northern Mali was based not only on the fact
that this region is the poorest of the country, but also the least served
by microfinance (and other development) programs. Mopti is the
region with the highest incidence of extreme poverty (38.1%).
Timbuktu also has a high rate of extreme poverty (26.4%), whereas
Gao has a relatively low rate of extreme poverty (11.1%).

The Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) was conducted in 1996 and
again in 2003-4. Central Bureau of Statistics conducted Nepal Living
Standard Survey over all Nepal in 1996 with introduction of ultra poor.
The survey was comprehensive and also micro nature. The survey
measured 42.0% as national average of poverty incidence in 1996 out
of which the poor was 24.9% and the ultra poor was 17.1 % regarding
the defined poverty line. The poverty line is set to the rupees per
person a normal household will need to buy a normal basket of food
that contains 2124 kcal per day, plus normal additional spending for a
poor household. The poverty line varies between regions depending
on local prices. In rural Eastern Terai the poverty line is 6,000 rupees,
which for a six-person household means 3,000 rupees per month. A
normal wage in Kathmandu for casual workers is now in the range of
100-200 rupees, and in rural Terai it is in the range of 50-120 rupees.
As casual laborers do not work every day, a poor household will need
at least two working members, who are employed large parts of the
year to cross the poverty line. The Women Empowerment Program
targeted all but one of the Terai districts. Poverty data by district are
not available. The most recent Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS)
was conducted in 2003-4, and found that 31% of the total population
was living below the poverty line, with a slightly higher figure, 35%,
for the rural population. The poverty headcount rates in Rural West
Terai and Rural East Terai were 38% and 25% respectively.
The TU program targets Mali's Northern rural regions of Timbuktu, Gao
and Mopti. Despite their productive potential, communities in northern
Mali are the poorest in the country. Poverty in the northern regions is
characterized by environmental degradation, lack of infrastructure and
chronic food deficits. The conflicts in the north that occurred during
the 1990s have also led to insecurity, which perpetuates chronic
poverty. The rural poor are especially vulnerable to the fragile
environment; many are food insecure. With few assets or access to
physical or financial resources, they depend on income-generating
activities with low productivity. In addition, they have limited access to
basic social services, primary health care, safe water, useable roads,
electricity and communication services.

The national poverty line in Burkina Faso is defined as the amount of

income needed to satisfy a certain level of well-being. In practice, it is
computed to ensure the caloric consumption required by a normal
adult (2,300 calories). The following table provides poverty
measurement data from the three most recent household surveys
conducted by INSD. While urban poverty has been increasing, the vast
majority of the poor can be found in rural areas, while over half of the
rural population lives below the poverty line. In 2003, the regions most
affected by poverty (in terms of incidence) were: Northern; South
Central; Central Plateau; Boucle du Mouhoun; East Central; and
Southwestern. When looking at contribution to overall poverty, the
regions that contain the greatest number of the poor are the Boucle
du Mouhoun and Hauts Bassins. RCPB has near-complete national
coverage, and will expand to the three remaining provinces by 2010.
The regions described above are already covered. The organization
has chosen to make CEE a standard component of its product offerings
when opening new cooperatives. The network's expansion model
takes into consideration the eventual profitability of cooperative sites,
in order to maintain the overall financial viability of the network. The
following information applies to the country as a whole: 27.2% of the
population lives below a dollar-a-day, while 71.8% lives below two
dollars-a-day. Rural / urban differentiation on these measures is not
available. 46.4% of the population lives below the poverty line (52.3%
in rural areas); the median below the poverty line is not available.
The rural hill and mountain regions of Nepal suffer from a heavy
concentration of poverty. Many of these areas are not accessible by
road and have little or no infrastructure. Most of these areas are also
under the control of Maoist rebels and therefore inaccessible to
government relief and development programs. This combination of
factors results in chronic food deficits in the hills and mountains.
While extreme poverty has typically been a rural problem in Nepal,
with the Maoist insurgency, many poor people have migrated to cities,
thus compounding the problem of urban poverty. The majority of
Nirdhan Bank's clients live in the tarai lowlands of south central Nepal,
a region which is relatively better off than the western hills or the
mountains. However, Nirdhan has expanded its operations and
developed specific poverty focused products for the rural hill regions
of central Nepal. Nirdhan is currently limited by the Rastra Bank to
operating in 10 regions. As soon as they receive authorization, they
plan to expand their area of operations to include more rural hill
regions. Nirdhan Bank currently operates in ten districts with a total
population of about 6,000,000 people.
Poverty has been endemic and persistent in Tamil Nadu. The
percentage of people below poverty line declined from mid-1950s to
early/mid 1960s, but went up later. From the early 1960s to 1980s,
about 50% of Tamil Nadu population was continuously below the
poverty line (Tamilnadu People's Forum for Social Development,
2001). In 1993-1994, Union Planning Commission estimates, the
poverty rate has come down to 35%. Despite this positive progress,
rural and urban disparities persist. While in 1973-1974, rural poverty
(57%) was higher than urban poverty, in 1993-1994, urban poverty
(39.8%) exceeded rural poverty (32.5%). The situation of the urban
poor in slums has steadily deteriorated, leading to serious deprivations
and dire lack of basic services in slums. Almost 25% of urban people in
Tamil Nadu live in slums that grow at about 4.5% per annum
(Tamilnadu People's Forum for Social Development, 2001). According
to the Ninth Five Year Plan of Tamil Nadu (1997-2002), Tamil Nadu is
an educationally advanced state with a general literacy rate of 62.66%
compared to the national average of 52.21%. It ranks third among
major states with regard to general literacy and in female literacy rate.
However, according to the NSS Organization survey conducted in
1998, there is disparity due to gender: 80% of the males are literate
whereas only 60% of the females are literate. There is also disparity
due to social status of the population. The literacy rate for the dalit,
especially female dalits is lower than the state average: 39.5% for
dalits and 29.5% for dalit women, while the state average is 63%.
Although poverty is persistent and prevalent in the state of Tamil
Nadu, it is not the extreme poor state. ASA is planning to expand its
services to serve the unmet demand of the poorest in the neighboring
states.
The poorest areas in India are those clustered in the Bimoru States,
whose populations are highly represented by indigenous tribes.
Traditionally, CCF-India has worked, with the exception of the North
East and Kashmir, all over the country. In July 2004, CCF India
undertook a major study, e.g. Identification of Backward Areas in India,
to help it identify those districts most in need of interventions. District
level analysis was chosen over State-wide, to allow for a more precise
identification of target areas. Identification of backward districts
assured that a poor district would not be excluded on the grounds that
the State it was in is relatively more developed. The exercise was also
useful in identifying clusters of backward districts that are spread
across more than one State, making operations more efficient for CCF.
Only state wide data, provided in section 1.2.4.1, is available for
those falling under the national poverty line.

Consistent with CCF’s child centered focus, the ranking methodology

selected indicators that could provide insights into the “capability
deprivations that are central determinants of the status of people and
especially children.” The following are the indicators CCF-India used
to develop an index of development and subsequently rank the 225
poorest districts in the country.

Health Infant survival rate.

Education Female literacy rate
Income Monthly per capita expenditure
Social Status Sex ratio among children;
% of Scheduled Caste /Scheduled Tribes
Access to facilities/markets % urbanization

The study revealed that nearly three quarters of the most backward
districts (54 out of 75) are in the three Bimoru States of Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh. If Rajasthan is added, two thirds
of the backward districts are covered. Finally, if Chhattisgarh and
Jharkhand are added, 144 of the 150 most backward districts are
covered. The resulting rank order of backwardness was used to
cluster districts into operationally manageable units. At the end of the
process, CCF- India – and by relation LEEP, identified 122 districts or
54% of the total 225 most backward as priority districts for program
intervention.
Figures from the National Statistics Institute , (INEI) show that poverty
in Peru is very significant given that 45% of the population is
considered poor and more than 16.1% is considered extremely poor.
By geographic region, the greatest poverty levels continue to be
located in the jungle and the highlands, with 63.4% and 56.6%
respectively, while on the coast the level is much lower (28.7%). At a
department level the poorest departments in the country located in
the highlands or in the jungle are: Huancavelica 88.7%, Ayacucho
78.4%, Puno 76.3%, Apurimac 74.8%, Huanuco 74.6%, Pasco 71.2%,
Loreto 66.3%, Cajamarca 63.8%. / According to the poverty map, the
regions of Puno and Apurimac have poverty indexes that indicate that
between 40% and 60% of their populations live below the poverty line,
while in Tacna and Moquegua 20% of the total population lives below
the poverty line. In the past two decades, trend of migration has
begun from Andean zones toward urban zones considered to be trade
centers such as Tacna, Arequipa, Moquegua and Ilo, expanding the
urban structure of these cities and forming new peri-urban or urban
marginal zones with low human development indexes. / Of the 24
regions, two regions (8.3%) have more than 60% of their total
population living below the extreme poverty line. Moreover, there are
seven regions (29%) which have between 40% and 60% of their total
is below the extreme poverty line; six regions (25%) have between
20% and 40% of their population below the extreme poverty line and
nine regions (37.5%) have less than 20% of their total population
below the extreme poverty line.
Poverty rates by geography, 1999: Baluchistan and Sindh: 25%,
Punjab: 33%, NWFP (North West Frontier Province): 33-45%, AJK: 25%,
Jammu & Kashmir: unknown. Program Sites and level poverty rates
(1999):
Hyderabad, Sindh: 25%
Thatta, Sindh: 25%
Quetta, Balochistan: 25%
Multan, Punjab: 33%
National poverty rate: 35% (This is from a different report and may not
be completely comparable)
The EHDR [2005] found that poverty is localised and masked by
averages. The distribution of wealth groups between rural and urban
settings was significant. The poor live in primarily rural areas; the
majority have no social security, are significantly not connected to the
piped water, not linked to sewage system and drains, have no flushes
and their households are poorly equipped (74% of the poorest
households have no refrigerator). Over a third of the heads of
households in the poorest quintile are agricultural workers (36.2%)
and another 11.3% are peasants farming their own land. Almost half
(47.2%) are ultra poor rural households. Poverty is found to be
concentrated in Upper Egypt. ABA-SME was created by an association
of businessmen from Alexandria to help the development of the
governorate. Obviously, its first area of activity was the governorate of
origin it self. The expansion strategy was guided by geographical
proximity to Alexandria rather than by level of poverty of the areas.
When it was possible to expand activity, ABA-SME has chosen the
surrounding governorates for evident reasons of easier operational
follow up of the branches. As a consequence of a past law confining
association’s activities to one governorate, the majority of MFIs are
specialized by geographical area. Only banks have a national
coverage. ABA-SME’s target area falls within an area where the
poverty incidence is not the most severe. 4 to 10% of the population
of Alexandria, Kafr Echeikh, Behira and Menoufia are considered to be
poor. While between 10 and 25% of Matrouh’s population are
considered to be poor. With half the national proportion of poor
population and compared to the poorest region of the country (Upper
Egypt), the target area (mainly Alexandria and Kafr El Sheikh) seem to
be less affected by poverty. Though, with a Gini coefficient higher than
Menoufia and Behira, these two governorates show inequalities in the
income distribution. Even though Alexandria seems wealthier (or less
poor) with the lowest percentage of poor population among the four
governorates, it has the second highest share of ultra poor. The
hypothesis of inequlity in income distribution is confirmed by a Gini
coefficient, by 3 points higher than the national level. Menoufia and
Behira, the more rural governorates (table 2) show an assumed
correlation between rural areas and incidence of poverty. Behira
seems to have a homogenous poor, rural population while Menoufia
has a better off, also homogenous population.
Per the poverty mapping, Nyanza Province contributes the third
largest number of very poor people to Kenya's total. Similar to the
Western Province, which is the poorest province in Kenya, between
60% to 70% of the population (headcount index) in the vast majority
of the districts in Nyanza Province live below the national poverty line.
The design for the omena value chain program balances poverty
targeting with economic potential and the promise of scale in terms of
the numbers of very poor women it could work with. This enables the
program to target the very poor effectively by integrating them into a
profitable industry and providing significant increases in their incomes.
It also allows for greater expansion of the program, since by
partnering with the private sector the program operates with few
subsidies, while reaching larger numbers of the very poor through
private investment. Suba district was of interest given that it is one of
the poorest districts in Kenya. Equally important was the role that the
district plays in Kenya’s profitable fishing industry. The district
supplies 25% of the total fishing catch for Lake Victoria and is the
largest source of fish for Kenya, pumping over 3.5 billion KES annually
into the Kenyan economy. Fishing provides 10,000 direct jobs in Suba
district and another 20,000 indirectly. The main fish harvested from
Lake Victoria are nile perch, tilapia and omena, otherwise known as
minnow. The omen value chain was ultimately choose for the program,
since it would enable very poor women working at a near subsistence
level drying and selling omena to upgrade to commercial production.
Another important factor in choosing to work in the omena value chain
was the presence of the firm Promisdor, which offered the women
affordable financing and a guaranteed market for their product if they
would agree to meet its quality and delivery standards. This lowered
the risk for the women to upgrade their production while providing
them with the needed investments. It also ensured the sustainability
and expansion of the program since it is driven by the business
relationship between the women and Promisdor.
 1.2.4.4 Determining factors about poverty
rural location, household headed by widow or children, lack
of education, ill health, lack of access to clean water, land
ownership, conflict

Despite their productive potential, communities in northern

Mali are the poorest in the country. Poverty in the northern
regions is characterized by environmental degradation, lack
of infrastructure and chronic food deficits. The conflicts in
the north that occurred during the 1990s have also led to
insecurity, which perpetuates chronic poverty. The rural
poor are especially vulnerable to the fragile environment;
many are food insecure. With few assets or access to
physical or financial resources, they depend on income-
generating activities with low productivity. In addition, they
have

limited access to basic social services, primary health care,

safe water, useable roads, electricity and communication
services.
The main determinants of poverty are discrimination of
indigenous populations, civil war and natural disasters
affecting the country. Poverty is manifested by low literacy
rates, high levels of malnutrition, poor housing conditions
and limited access to basic services, such as health care,
secondary schools (junior and high school) markets and
infrastructure. Household size may indicate a family’s
vulnerability to poverty as well.

N/A
N/A
Based on ASA's experience, the main indicators of poverty
include: caste, gender, education level, amount of land and
animals owned, location and economic sector of income
generating activities. The first two are main causes of
poverty.
Traditional poverty indicators tend to focus on income or
financial deprivation. CCF’s DEV (deprivation, exclusion and
vulnerability) framework considers the broader range of
social and economic factors. Within the poor communities
where CCF-India works, the factors used in the PWR process
to indicate poverty include: # of children, # of
disabled/chronically ill dependents, size of land parcel
owned, female head of household, attendance of school
aged children, quality of home. If one looks at the
determinants of poverty, the focus shifts to issues of land
ownership, lack of water, social status in a rigidly stratified,
caste based society, low levels of education that lead to high
levels of illiteracy, limited access to markets, information
and social services, high population growth rates, and
dependence on the agriculture sector which has low returns.
Diverse factors, both external and internal, determine
poverty, where quality of life indicators are very low. In
these parts of Peru, poverty is very difficult to overcome
because of the diverse factors that explain it, including low
productivity, child malnutrition, migration, lower access to
and poor quality of education (particularly in Andean rural
zones), lack of access to infrastructure and basic services,
cultural barriers, climate factors, etc.

As a whole, the poor experience: Lack of services:

electricity, water, sewer, telephone, health care /
Remoteness and/or urban squalor / Social structures and
constraints that support exploitative economic practices /
Low Education levels, low literacy levels - especially for
women / Low access to land, often through feudal systems
in which the landlord retain property rights. Women's right o
own property is not widely recognized. / Poor health, low
access to health care / Market disruption due to insecurity,
political factionalism and/or natural disaster. For the
program target group, in addition: Gender: low education,
home confinement, domestic violence, arranged marriages,
lack of access to and control over resources, lack of mobility,
lack of autonomy to pursue economic activities, and
isolation from markets
N/A
The government in developing its poverty baseline uses
food and non-food expenditure (schooling, health,
transportation and rent) s at the household level, which also
accounts for regional price differences. The government
also more broadly tracks a number of social indicators to
determine a households or a province economic well-being
including: life expectancy, school enrolment, household
incomes, access to health care and banking services, postal
services, security and electricity.
 Case Study 2.1.2.1 Mission & Vision
CARE Rwanda CARE’s mission is to serve individuals and families in the
poorest communities in the world. CARE’s vision is to seek
a world of hope, tolerance and social justice where poverty
has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.

Trickle Up Mali Trickle Up empowers people living on less than a dollar a

day to take the first steps out of poverty, providing them
with resources to build microenterprises for a better quality
of life.

PACT Nepal Pact's mission is to build empowered communities, effective

governments and responsible private institutions that give
people an opportunity for a better life. We do this by
strengthening the capacity of organizations and institutions
to be good service providers, represent their stakeholders,
network with others for learning and knowledge sharing, and
advocate for social, economic and environmental justice.
Interdependence, responsible stewardship, inclusion of
vulnerable groups, and respect for local ownership and
knowledge are core values across all of our programs. Pact's
mission is to help build strong communities globally that
provide people with an opportunity to earn a dignified living,
raise healthy families, and participate in democratic life.
Pact achieves this by strengthening the capacity of
grassroots organizations, coalitions and networks and by
forging linkages among government, business and the
citizen sectors to achieve social, economic and
environmental justice. Pact envisions an interconnected
world in which relationships of trust and mutual benefit
among the state, the marketplace and communities provide
the inspiration and foundation for taking actions to end
poverty, ensure justice and achieve greater equity.
Friendship Bridge Mission: Friendship Bridge provides microcredit and
Guatemala education to help women and their families create their own
solutions to poverty.

Vision: FB vision is that all those living in poverty will have

full access to financial and educational opportunities (and
other economic and social resources) so they have the
freedom to choose what meets their needs.

Beliefs:
Microcredit helps impoverished women reach economic
independence.
Education for women and children is an important tool for
development.
Health education enhances personal, family, and community
well-being.

Respect for the spiritual and cultural roots of communities is

fundamental.

Participatory techniques incorporate each client's voice.

Women are leaders for change in their families and

communities.

Effective programs are created through listening.

FFH/RCPB Burkina Freedom from Hunger's Vision is a world free from hunger.
Faso Mission Statement: "Freedom from Hunger brings innovative
and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against
chronic hunger and poverty. Together with local partners,
we equip families with resources they need to build futures
of health, hope and dignity."
Save/Nirdhan Save the Children believes in a self-help philosophy with a
Nepal mission of providing communities with a hand up, not a
handout. SC works with families to define and address the
problems their children and communities face and utilizes a
broad array of intervention strategies to ensure the
sustainability and efficacy of all its programs. Programs seek
to make lasting, positive change in institutions, behaviors or
policies that affect human well-being. This is accomplished
be enabling individuals, communities, and institutions to
adopt new behaviors and systems that promote change and
endure beyond Save the Children's involvement. Save the
Children recognizes, promotes and supports sustainability at
four levels within its programs: institutional, financial,
behavioral and policy.
ASA India N/A
CCF India Too many of the world’s children suffer the debilitating
effects of poverty and violence.

Children have the right to experience life with as much joy

and hope as possible. Christian Children's Fund creates an
environment of hope and respect for children in need in
which they have opportunities to achieve their full potential,
and provides children, families and communities with
practical tools for positive change.

CCF Beliefs:

• all children deserve an environment of hope, respect and

understanding;
• that poverty is a personal experience for every child and
this insight and sensitivity guides all of our actions;
• it takes a global perspective and collaborative effort in
order to substantially impact the issues of poverty that are
facing children today;
• we must work together to create an environment of
understanding towards all children embracing cultural and
religious differences;
• that all our actions must be guided by the utmost integrity
and transparency;
• that we are accountable for all funds we receive, and we
will always be upfront and honest with our donors and
stakeholders and use these funds in the most efficient and
productive manner.
Pro Mujer Peru Pro Mujer is a nongovernmental women's development
organization (NGO). Its mission is to empower women to
improve their social and economic conditions. The success
of Pro Mujer is thanks to its service model that has been
demonstrated to be highly effective, maintaining a superior
quality. Pro Mujer provides loans and training for Latin
American women who are the owners of small businesses
but do not have access to loans from major banking entities.
Unlike other NGOs and MFIs, Pro Mujer is focused on
providing services to clients who earn less than $2 a day.
Pro Mujer seeks to provide women with the financial
services and training they need to be successful in their
business and achieve a better quality of life. Pro Mujer
believes as part of its vision that, in order to achieve the full
development of nations, the value and potential of women
must be taken into account, ensuring that women exercise
active roles in all processes of personal and community
MEDA Pakistan development.
MEDA Mission: "As an association of Christians, in business
and the professions, committed to applying biblical
teachings in the marketplace, MEDA members share their
faith, abilities and resources to address human needs
through economic development." / MEDA Vision: "...that all
people may experience Christ's love and utilize their abilities
to earn a livelihood, provide for families and enrich their
communities."
ABA Egypt N/A
Kenya BDS The Kenya Business Development Services Program (Kenya
BDS) is a 6-year micro- and small-enterprise (MSE)
development program funded by the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) and managed by the
Emerging Markets Group. The objective of Kenya BDS is to
increase growth and incomes among rural MSEs through: 1)
access to markets; and 2) access to commercial skills and
resources to compete in those markets. The program
achieves these goals by working in subsectors of high
growth potential for microenterprises. The program uses
value chain and subsector analysis to identify critical market
inefficiencies along the value chain, which it then seeks to
address. The objective is to build the competitiveness of the
targeted value chain through interventions that increase its
efficiency and better meet the demands of final markets.
2.1.3.1 Primary target group & development 2.1.3.2 Specialized in
focus MF/MED or multi-sector
CARE targets individuals and households in the Interventions include:
poorest communities in the world. education, economic security,
health and HIV/AIDS,
environment and land
management

TU supports very poor people, with a strong focus TU employs a grants-based

on women and people with disabilities. TU's MED approach to assist very
current geographic focus comprises West Africa poor households in
(Mali and Burkina Faso), East Africa (Uganda and implementing (expanding,
Ethiopia), South Asia (India and Nepal), and improving, starting) a
Central America (Guatemala and Nicaragua). TU's microenterprise, and also
primary development focus is microenterprise assists Trickle Up beneficiaries
development for the very poor. in managing their own savings
groups.
Pact’s livelihood promotion programs target poor Pact does not specialize in
and vulnerable sections of the populations. one single approach in
Depending on the local program context, these microfinance or
can be women, the rural poor, and other microenterprise development,
vulnerable groups, who are being reached with but instead has built up
microfinance, microenterprise development, expertise and capacity in
education/literacy or health services, to name the various models of MF and
most prominent ones. MED, as well as in non-
economic development areas.
FB´s goal is to reach poor women. The majority of FB is committed to providing
clients are indigenous women who live in rural both financial as well as non-
areas and in the outskirts of urban areas. They are financial services, primarily in
micro entrepreneurs, micro producers, micro rural the area of non-formal
merchants who have no access to the formal participatory education for
finance system because of cultural, financial and women and educational
geographic limitations. Most of the borrowers support for the children on
invest their loans in the development of their FB’s clients.
artisan production, livestock, agricultural, or
merchant businesses. The development of new
markets is based on the criteria of geographic
expansion and greater penetration our already
existing markets.

Freedom from Hunger focuses its efforts on the Freedom from Hunger
chronically hungry poor and frames its work in promotes the integration of
terms of outcomes. All programmatic activities services: the provision to the
(inputs) address directly or indirectly the three same program participant of a
components of family food security - availability, bundle of financial services,
access and utilization. Freedom from Hunger behavior-change education
targets its programs toward women, particularly sessions (training in the areas
very poor women, as entry-points to the of health, nutrition,
household with particular responsibilities toward microenterprise development,
the well-being of young children. Programs are household financial
primarily designed for rural areas, but also reach management) and health-
peri-urban areas. Freedom from Hunger has protection products and
chosen to concentrate on a few regions of the services.
world with large numbers of chronically hungry
people, relative political stability, and existing civil
society organizations with which to partner: South
Asia (particularly India) and Southeast Asia
(particularly the Philippines), West Africa and East
Africa, the Andean Region of Latin America, and
Mexico.
SC's primary target group is children, their Save the Children supports
families and their communities. SC works in a both specialized and multi-
range of development sectors, including health, sectoral partner institutions.
education, HIV/AIDS, emergency response and SC and its partners implement
food security, in addition to providing economic best practice microfinance
opportunities. programs and strive for full
financial sustainability within
seven years.

N/A N/A
Children are the target population of all CCF CCF, Inc. does not advocate a
programs. Since improved family income is so single/preferred microfinance
central to child wellbeing, the MED target group is methodology or approach.
families living in CCF supported communities, The role of the international
especially mothers. CCF’s approach to MED is to organization is to provide
strengthen parents’ income-earning capacity quality standards which all
through some combination of micro-credit, MED programs are expected
technical assistance, and skills or business to meet.
training. CCF focuses on fostering family self-
reliance, responsibility, and creating a sustainable Some CCF programs focus
livelihood capacity. exclusively on microfinance,
others do only non-financial
The following key principles guide CCF services, and yet others do a
microfinance programs: blend. The subject of this
• Target services to the poorest and most case study, LEEP India, is an
vulnerable, focusing particularly on women. example of a blended
• Use mutual guarantees rather than physical microfinance and non-
collateral for loans. financial services approach.
• Expect full and on-time repayment of loans.
• Offer initial loan sizes that are appropriate to the
borrower’s capacity and needs.
• Microfinance activities achieve full financial
sustainability in less than 7 years, and spin-off
from CCF to become autonomous MFI partners.
• Maximum integration of MED with other sector
programs such as HIV/AIDS and emergency
response programs.
• Establish systems to monitor the impact of MED
on families, especially children.
Pro Mujer serves low income women who do not While many NGOs offer only
have the opportunity to develop the skills credit and a few also offer
necessary to compete in the formal sector market, training in business skills, Pro
and at the same time have limited access to Mujer stands out among the
banking services and private funds. In order to few NGOs that successfully
generate income, these disadvantaged women opt combines loans, business
to create their own micro businesses. In order to training and basic health
open these businesses, they need access to education.
funding, therefore improving their quality of life
as well as their abilities and self-esteem.

MEDA targets the economically active poor with Exclusive MF/MED approach …
economic development programs. They believe in although MEDA is involved in
offering a "hand-up" rather than a "hand-out." developing some health
markets, for example for
insecticide treated mosquito
nets.

N/A N/A
Emerging Markets Group (EMG) is an integrated For the Kenya BDS program,
development consulting firm that provides an exclusive MF/MED
services to international donor agencies and approach is used, with Kenya
sovereign governments. EMG offers solutions in BDS facilitating
financial services, private sector development, microenterprises commerical
agribusiness, trade, infrastructure, health care, access to market linkages,
sustainable tourism and public sector reform. products and services that
enable them to sell into
higher value markets.
 2.1.3.3 MF/MED Model
Emphasis on (1) savings-based microfinance schemes and (2) participation in high-return
agricultural subsectors and (3) community solidarity based emergency preparedness.
CLASSE-Intambwe Model is in large part based on CARE’s original Village Savings and Loan
Association (VS&LA) Model, creates Accumulating Savings and Credit Associations
(ASCAs).  CARE Rwanda’s CLASSE-Intambwe Model is in large part based on CARE’s
original Village Savings and Loan Association (VS&LA) Model, developed initially by CARE
Niger. This approach creates Accumulating Savings and Credit Associations (ASCAs), self-
selected groups of people, who pool their money into a fund from which members can
borrow. The money is paid back with interest, causing the fund to grow and increasingly
meet members’ financial needs. These Savings and Loan Associations (SLAs) become
entirely self-managing and typically open a group account with a local bank. SLAs usually
include between 15 and 30 members. They receive a training program according to the
“CLASSE-Intambwe” methodology. In contrast to most of CARE’s VS&LA programs
worldwide, up to 30 individual SLAs within a region form an Intergroupment (similar to a
federation), which acts as an intermediary to obtain loans from the local Banque Populaire.

TU provides both enterprise development assistance (business training, facilitating access

to markets…) and access to finance (through conditional seed capital grants, encouraging
savings including formation of savings groups and access to microcredit).

Pact’s approach to economic challenges faced by the poor depends on local country
context and ranges from savings mobilization, microenterprise development, and market-
based livelihoods development activities that increase household income. This approach
aims to provide sustainable financial services, which can be savings-led or focused on
microcredit.

In Myanmar Pact is running a large traditional MF program (credit-led). This approach uses
a group lending methodology and stimulates small business ventures through a range of
small business support services. The savings-led approach (as it originated in WEP and
continues to evolve in WORTH) helps poor people (usually women) establish and operate
their own village banks and acquire skills in managing micro- and small enterprises.

In other cases Pact practices market-based livelihoods development, assessing and

developing a market for local products, improving the local production capacity and
strengthening supply channels.
FB offers credit services using the trust bank methodology, with group guarantees. There
is a mandatory savings component to the credit services, where clients save at least 10%
of their loan. They are eligible to receive their savings at the end of their loan cycle.
These credit services are paired with education in business development and money
management courses as well as health and personal development curricula. This
methodology is based on the belief that spiritual and personal empowerment is as
important as economic empowerment especially for women.

Freedom from Hunger's Credit with Education methodology originally combined a modified
village banking model (adding Grameen-inspired solidarity groups to the FINCA model)
with group-based, non-formal education on a variety of topics. Over time, Freedom from
Hunger's improvements and implementing organization innovations have broadened the
financial service component options to encompass a variety of lending and guarantee
models. A common feature of these variants is regular group meetings of participants,
which provide the platform for training sessions and other development interventions. A
recent and more significant variation involves the formation of savings groups, who
intermediate their own savings without external grants or loans - these groups also receive
training sessions. These products offered by a wide variety of institutions (NGOs, non-bank
financial institutions, rural banks, credit unions, credit union federations, regulated
financial institutions), either as a sole or main product offering, or as a specialized product
line.
SC's model is to improve the economic security of needy children and their mothers by
building sustainable MFIs that provide access to financial services for poor female
entrepreneurs. Where credible local partners exist, SC works with them to build their
capacity both technically and institutionally. In countries where there is no credible MFI
partner, SC facilitates the creation of one, usually transferring staff to the newly created
institution after several years of direct management. Although Save the Children uses
Group Guaranteed Lending and Savings (GGLS), or poverty lending, as its primary
methodology, it works with partners who use a variety of methodologies, such as Grameen
replicas and village banks. Most SC partner MFIs serve a client base that is 100% women.

N/A
CCF programs do not follow one specific lending methodology, and experiences vary with
local context, i.e. solidarity lending (Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Sierra Leone),
self-help groups (Timor Leste and India), village banking (Guatemala), and credit unions
(Senegal).
The Pro Mujer model is made up of three principle elements: group microloans with
mandatory savings; training in basic business skills, health and self esteem; and access to
high quality, low cost health services. The principle group product is called communal
association credit, and is rooted in communal banking and the Grameen model. Pro Mujer
also offers seasonal loans, educational loans, solidarity group loans and individual loans.
Pro Mujer is in the process of developing several new products through a donation from
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that include loans for young people, agro-commercial
loans, housing loans, loans for men, loans for salaried workers and loans for clients with
high business potential.

MEDA's Production and Marketing Linkage strategy is a pro-poor value chain development
strategy. MEDA conducted a market assessment to select the embroidery value chain as
an appropriate value chain for reaching marginalized, low-income rural women. They
identified viable consumer market opportunities, and addressed the product and market
linkage constraints for the target women in reaching these markets. The results have
been higher quality, more marketable products, that get higher prices, and more reliable
supplies at affordable cost and/or on credit. MEDA has established a sustainable and
growing market system.
N/A
Kenya BDS uses the value chain framework to design and implement its program. Within
the framework, the interventions used are determined by the value chain analysis and
program design process which ranks the most critical constraints and opportunities in the
value chain. Potential interventions to address these constraints and to leverage these
opportunities vary depending on the results of the analysis, but may include all or some of
the following: access to commercial material inputs, services and technical assistance;
access to commercial financing and savings services; business skills development; group
or cluster development, collection and marketing (branding and certification for domestic
and international markets); embedded service* facilitation between lead firms and
microenterprise producers including financing; advocacy to national and local government.
 2.2.1.1 Name
of the 2.2.1.2
organization or Geographic area 2.2.1.7 Specialized in
Case Study institution of operations (MF/MED) or multi-sector
CARE Rwanda RESAFI in capital and all MF/MED capacity building
provinces

Union des Banque Nationwide, 148 Financial Services (savings

Populaires de People’s Banks, at and loans)
Rwanda least one in each
district

Trickle Up Mali Sahel Etude 14 rural communes Multiple sectors: economic

Action pour le and 1 urban activities, agriculture,
Développement commune (Gao) in handicrafts/artisan support,
(SEAD) three 'cercles' of the livestock, irrigation,
Gao Region environment, training and
research, education, health,
technology

PACT Nepal N/A Most partner Mostly not specialized in MF or

organizations are MED
local (ranging from
district – to village
level)
Friendship Bridge Friendship Bridge- Guatemala; MF
Guatemala Guatemala Departments of:
Sololá,
Suchitepéquez,
Quiché,
Chichicastenango,
Nebaj,
Quetzaltenango,
Chimaltenango,
Totonicapán,
Sacatepéquez,
Rethaluleu
FFH/RCPB Burkina Réseau des 42 of 45 provinces Financial services institution
Faso Caisses Populaires have at least one
du Burkina cooperative
Save/Nirdhan Nirdhan Utthan Ten districts (out of Specialized microfinance
Nepal Bank Ltd. 75): Rautahat, Bara, services
Parsa, Chitawan,
Nawalparasi,
Rupandehi, Palpa,
Kapilbastu, Dang
and Banke
ASA India The Activists for Tamil Nadu, ASA - Rights based Issue
Social Alternatives Southern part of based development
(ASA) India programs / GV - Microfinance
CCF India Grama Vidiyal 16 States and Union LEEP India will be specialized
Territories of India in microfinance, with CCF
India’s partners providing the
complimentary TA services.
CCF is multisectoral, child
sponsorship agency.
Livelihood and MED activities
are conducted under the
LEEP program.

Pro Mujer Peru Pro Mujer Inc Peru, provinces MF

Puno, Juliaca,
Moquegua, Ilo,
Tacna, Abancay
MEDA Pakistan Entrepreneurship ECDI's head office is ECDI has evolved a more
and Career based in Karachi but pronounced focus on BDS
Development activities and market development in recent
Institute (ECDI) interventions are years but its traditional areas
undertaken all over of concern have remained
Pakistan. women entrepreneurship
promotion, technology
dissemination, capacity and
vocational skill enhancement.
All interventions have a
rigorous gender sensitization
focus and aim to empower
women to take control of their
lives and destinies.
ABA Egypt Alexandria Governorates of Specialised in financial
Business Alexandria, services (microcredit)
Association - SME Menoufiya, Bahira,
project Kafr El Sheikh and
Matrouh
Kenya BDS Promisador Operates across Private firm, which sources
several countries in product from microenterprises
Africa, both among others
producing and
marketing its food
products which
include dairy,
beverages & food
enhancers
(flavoring, sauces,
etc.)
 2.2.1.8 Beginning of MF/MED
activities 2.2.1.9 Principle activity
2001 VS&LA capacity building, BDS,
advocacy, M&E

1974 Savings, Loans

Since 2004, when TU partnership began Food security, education,

health

At time of WEP introduction Community mobilization

Nov-98 Credit with education
programs for women and
educational support for their
children
1993 Savings and lending
cooperative
Mar-93 Savings, Loans, Insurance and
Money Transfer
1993 1. Credit 2. Savings 3.
Insurance 4. Business loans
(Individual loans) 5. Loans for
poorest segment (special
loan/multipurpose loan)
 2008 LEEP India’s core business will
be microcredit. TA will
continue to be provided by
partner NGOs supported by
CCF-India. CCF India’s core
business is child
development. LEEP programs
core business is family
livelihood enhancement
through credit and technical
assistance.

Apr-00 Loans, savings, health plans

Small and microenterprise development
since 1990 including management,
leadership and entrepreneurship
development training targeted at
specifically at women. Research and
advocacy (including at important policy
forums) on related gender and
development issues since inception.
Since 2002, BDS market assessment in
an organized and concerted fashion
although earlier projects had done some
work in three subsectors: frozen foods,
vegetable dyeing and handmade paper.
Capacity development of
individual women
entrepreneurs, institutional
strengthening of other
development agencies,
research and resource
development all centered
around the promotion of
women and their economic
and social empowerment
1990 Credit
N/A N/A
 2.2.1.12
Number of
2.2.1.11 Target population clients/participa
– MF/MED nts – MF/MED
SLAs, local CBOs N/A

Rural and urban savers 398,799

Poor rural women 1,225

N/A Varies upon

capacity
Rural, indigenous, poor 13,803 women
women
RCPB serves adult community 454,550
members who live or work in cooperative
its catchment area. The target members,
market for the Credit with representing
Education products are poor 954,761 men and
and very poor women in rural women clients Of
and peri-urban areas these, 66,706 are
CEE clients, 2,721
are ACI clients
and 1,444 are
CFMU clients
40% of the bottom poor 74,731 (As of June
2006)
poorest of the poor Total members -
community in tamil nadu at 203176 / Total
present. ASA-GV may expand borrowers -
to other states in future 186328
Primary target: Families of Primary clients:
CCF- India’s enrolled children 70,000
Secondary target: All poor Total clients:
families in the villages where 350,000
CCF-India’s enrolled children
live

MF, women 35,000 women

Middle class women Other than the
entrepreneurs and poor rural current project,
artisans as well as micro and over 2000
small businesses. / Institutions individual women
such as NGOs, social security entrepreneurs
organizations, government trained and
employees, service providers developed; and
such as MFIs / Earlier there 180 MED trainers
was a stronger urban focus of developed
interventions, but this has
radically changed in the last 5
years.
Existing Small and micro 59,526
enterprises / poor women
N/A N/A
 2.2.2.1 Mission and Vision
RESAFI’s mission is to ensure sustainability and replication of the
community saving and loans methodology initiated by CARE International in
Rwanda in 2002, and to take all necessary actions to expand and
consolidate this model through human, material and financial resources.

To develop savings and loans products, promote economic and social

wellbeing in partnership with its shareholders, and to serve the community
at large. Subsistence farming is still a way of life for many and the
government is keen to encourage a move away from this, towards more
commercial farming. In order to get involved in more value-add activities
the rural communities need access to more micro-financing.

SEAD' mission is to contribute to the well-being of both the sedentary and

nomadic populations, particularly women and destitute children in the
North of Mali through technical support and assistance to local communities
in areas of education, production, mobilization of internal and external
resources.

N/A
Vision: Women and their families can find their own solutions to poverty
through access to credit and education services.
Mission: Provide a financial service model, “Microcredit Plus” tailored to the
needs of Guatemalan women.
RCPB Mission statement: "To help improve the living conditions of the
working peoples of Burkina Faso, through: the mobilization of local savings,
the development of reliable and profitable cooperative savings and credit
entities, the promotion of appropriate and accessible financial services,
democratic administration and management according to cooperative rules
and principles, while a focus on and respect for humankind." RCPB Values:
Respect for individuals, Respect of the principles of honesty and integrity,
Respect for the common good, Respect of law and regulations, Respect of
the organization. RCPB commitments: Pay attention and listen to
members, Be available and equitable toward members, Fight poverty and
relieve misery, Strive for excellence and availability in work
Nirdhan Bank's vision is to reduce poverty in Nepal by enabling poor people
to contribute equally to a prosperous, self-reliant rural society through self-
employment and social awareness. The bank's mission is to extend
financial services and to improve the social awareness of the poor.
ASA-GV's vision is "A value based, poverty free, productive, prosperous,
humane and sustainable "Grama Vidiyal" Family." The internal vision is to
become "an organization owned by members and managed by
professionals" in the medium term and to be "an organization owned,
managed and used by women" in the long term. The mission is "To
empower women of the poorest families socially, economically and
politically through networking them into community institutions and
through efficient poverty alleviation and microfinance program". The
overall approach of ASA-GV can be summarised as "from women to families
and from families to society" identifying women as the poorest and worst
hit by poverty.
CCF-India is a partnership-based child development organization
representing the voice of deprived, vulnerable, marginalized and excluded
children in some of the remote and hard-to-reach places in India, regardless
of religion, race, creed and gender. CCF-India strives to improve the well
being of vulnerable children by empowering the community to undertake
and manage holistic child development programs and by networking with
other stakeholders.

The following is the vision and mission of CCF-India, which currently houses
LEEP. As CCF-India implementing partners will be share holders of LEEP
India, these child centered values will be reflected in its mission statement
as well.

Vision: An India where the disadvantaged, discriminated and excluded

child is supported and enabled to grow up playing an active and positive
role within family, community and nation.

Mission: To place the child at the center of its activity ensuring that the
programs which surround the child are of the highest quality and that
recordable difference is made to the quality of life of a large number of
children. The programs to be of such quality that they can serve to inspire
others including the Government to improve the implementation of child
centered development initiatives.

All programs, including MED, must make a direct link to child wellbeing.
This emphasis is reflected in the goal of the Livelihood and Economic
Enhancement Program (LEEP):

“Livelihood and economic enhancement of poor families for improved

wellbeing of their children.”

The mission is: To provide women who have limited resources with integral
services: financial services and personal development services that
contribute to their development and that of their family and community.
The vision is: The social objective of the Institution is to help women
become more effective in their personal development and in the
development of their children, families and society.
ECDI's vision is an equitable society that creates space for and empowers
women to attain their socioeconomic potential. ECDI's primary mission is
the creation of an enabling environment for the equitable socioeconomic
development of women and youth in Pakistan through the enhancement of
their entrepreneurial and managerial skills. The organization's mission is
directed towards its emergence as a recognized leader within the MED and
BDS fields in the Asia-Pacific region. ECDI offers specialised programs in
entrepreneurship, BDS market development and career counselling for
women and youth in Pakistan. It is deeply committed to education, training,
research and field activities that allow it to support individuals, businesses
and communities by advancing their income-generation capacities.
The institution aims to develop and promote existing small and micro
enterprises, to raise the income of SMEs, to help the transformation of
SMEs from the informal to the formal sector, and ultimately contribute to
solving the radical and chronic unemployment problem. The different grant
and credit products offered by ABA help to graduate poor people to
microcredit. Its approach is summarized in their leitmotif "reaching down …
scaling up".
Promasidor's vision is as follows: Quality - Our customers demand and
deserve quality products. We must fulfill our promise to provide products
and service of consistently high quality. Values - We need to demonstrate
the highest standards of corporate governance and corporate and social
responsibility throughout the Group. We have clear obligations to
consumers, suppliers, our employees and to the communities in which we
operate. These obligations are respect, integrity and openness. Profitability
- We will sell products where we can be profitable. If circumstances within
the operating environment limit the potential to generate profits, the
company cannot invest, grow, motivate, develop and reward our people
and stakeholders.
 2.2.2.3 Objectives
To provide technical assistance to SLAs; o Promote formation of new SLAs; o To coordinate
exchange of experiences on savings and credit among SLAs and their members; o To advocate
on behalf of the SLAs towards government and bank institutions; o Provide training and
materials to SLAs; o To collaborate with CARE, the public sector and private sector as a
consultative body community microfinance programs.

1) to provide members with an opportunity to deposit their savings in regulated and safe
conditions; 2) to offer credit to members to meet their economic needs and to be paid back
according to fixed terms established in a loan contract ; 3) to admit hardworking and earnest
low-income people as members ; 4) to promote a spirit of initiative and local work through
prudent use of credit and savings; 5) to combat usury and speculation.

SEAD's overarching objective is to contribute to sustainable development and autonomous

advancement of local communities, by organizing the sedentary and nomadic communities of
Northern Mali, technical and institutional assistance to those communities, supporting
mobilization of internal and external resources, facilitating communication and collaboration
among all stakeholders in the area.

Many of the local NGO/CBO partners are engaged in community mobilization on a range of
issues, such as irrigation, forest management, farming and health.
I. Micro-finance Plus programs:
A. Financial services
1. Provide a variety of financial and educational services tailored to the needs of 35,000 clients
across Guatemala by 2011.
2. Reach the poorest sectors with products attractive to them; 100% of our future clients below
the poverty line and 30% of them below the line of extreme poverty.

B. Non-Financial Services
1. Women’s education: Ongoing learning for borrowers
a) Offer interactive learning activities on topics of relevance and interest to all FBG clients. A
core curriculum around health, business development and money management as well as
personal development and education.
b) Facilitate discussion spaces and critical analysis that provide tools for clients to take actions
to improve their lives at the family and community levels.
2. Children’s Education
a) Encourage and support the formal schooling of our clients children’s through scholarships
and learning centers.
b) Work with FBG clients to identify and encourage ways to support their children’s success in
school.
3. Fair trade and specialized commercialization
a) Work with clients to improve quality of their products and achieve access to markets
b) Develop cultural tourism programs
4. Donor education
a) Offer meaningful spaces for learning and reflection for the participants in FB’s insight Tours
5. Impact: continually evaluate who our clients are and the impact FBG’s programs have on
their lives: poverty alleviation and empowerment.

II. Administration
Maintain and keep developing a well-organized and efficient institution with well-trained and
empowered staff and clientele.

III. Finance

1) Expand our sources of funding in order to satisfy our needs as an institution.

2) Achieve financial sustainability by 2009.
RCPB is currently finalizing a 2008-2010 business plan that calls for complete national coverage
by expanding into the last three untouched provinces, growing total membership (not counting
the individual clients belonging to member groups) to 783,000, and restructuring and
streamlining the network to ensure better service delivery to the members.
Nirdhan Bank's goals are to reach a maximum number of poor households, to develop a well-
managed institution and to enhance women's self-respect. Their objectives are: to focus on
bottom 40 percent of population, to maintain simple loan process, to require compulsory group
training and savings, to seek homogeneity of group members, to promote collective group
liability and to integrate financial and non-financial services.
?The objective of ASA-GV is aimed at achieving the mission and vision with optimum utilisation
of resources. ASA-GV is following the integrated approach to poverty alleviation taking MF as
entry point and utilising the platform created for social and political empowerment of women.
The members are federated at various levels, which form the backbone of the microfinance
activities. The federation formed is active in lobbying and advocacy as well. The official
organisational structure and the parallel federation structure of the members together form the
vehicle for the services rendered by ASA-GV to the members. ASA-GV uses internationally
accepted tools like Housing Index to target the poor and avoid non-poor in the program.
Objectives include: To work for the upliftment of socially and economically deprived sections of
the rural people, To on-lend / lend to Grama Vidiyal SHGs groups formed for activities under-
taken for the Environmental, Economic and Social upliftment of its members, To work for the
sustainable development of the society through community organizing, capacity building by
providing education, housing and addressing local issues, To create employment opportunity
through micro credit and enterprises development, To work for the holistic empowerment of the
women and the community, To involve in lobbying and advocacy for micro and macro issues.
CCF-India's comprehensive community development approach helps families improve their
economic status and cope with emerging health and survival challenges.
CCF-India's program focus areas include:

• Health: Interventions related to reproductive and child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS,

tuberculosis, malaria, disability, water and sanitation.
• Education: Ensuring universal primary education for all children under 14 years of age in
communities where we work, and early childhood education.
• Livelihood: Target families to increase their income through investment and support services.
Microfinance, combined with extensive technical assistance, is an integral part of addressing
these challenges.
• Emergency Response: Because children are the worst victims and most likely to be exploited
during an emergency, CCF-India responds to both localized emergencies in CCF communities
like house fire and death, as well as National disasters like the Tsunami, earthquakes, cyclones,
etc.

1)To make positive changes in the personal, business and social development of the clients and
their families. Microcredit and personal services constitute a means of reaching superior
objectives such as the development of businesses and social development. 2)Healthy growth of
the portfolio, which is a product of both the expansion to new regions and the development of
new products. The portfolio will increase by 30% in 2006, by 34% in 2007 and by 28% in 2008.
3)Maintain the profitability of financial services and ensure that the personal development
services are permanent and sustainable. These final elements differentiate Pro Mujer Peru and
therefore the organization recognizes the importance of guaranteeing their permanence and
expanding Pro Mujer's coverage of clients. 4)To increase participation in the national market,
both in terms of coverage and depth, going from the 2 current regions to 5 regions in 2008 and
providing more products per client. 5)To strengthen the image of PMP as an efficient,
transparent, prestigious MFI and leader in the market, this is the time to project an institutional
image in financial media, among investors, international cooperation, academics and with peers
in the microfinance industry, making public Pro Mujer's results and achievements.
ECDI believes that entrepreneurs are not just born but can also be developed through well-
conceived interventions. Contingent on this belief, the broad objectives of the institute are: To
support the development, promotion and expansion of small and micro-enterprises owned and
managed by women; To advance the managerial and leadership capabilities of existing micro
and small-scale women entrepreneurs and expand the social base of the Pakistani women
entrepreneurial genre; To contribute to new knowledge and insight in MED and BDS
development and practice through research and pilot projects; To advocate for greater policy
and resource focus on women through awareness-raising and sensitization on a range of gender
and other developmental concerns; and To enhance the number of motivated, competent
women entrepreneurs in the country through concerted education and training programs; To
promote the fair integration of women, particularly those from rural areas, in mainstream
markets by piloting and documenting new approaches to market access and disseminating best
practices in the area; To enlarge the existing cadre of local trainers and community motivators
to undertake women entrepreneurship development; To network with similar organizations and
institutions to share learning and accomplish common goals.
ABA-SME's main objectives are to promote existing small and micro enterprises, to raise the
incomes of SMEs and to help their transformation from informal to formal.
See 2.2.2.1
 2.2.2.7 Training/awareness raising
Professional training provided by CARE to the
personnel of partner people’s banks. The staff of
participating BPs attend annual trainings
organized by UBPR and CARE to discuss specific
circumstances and needs of the new clientele of
SLAs who are much poorer than typical BP
members. In addition to this training, which is
attended by BP managers and credit officers,
UBPR regional representatives monitor and
support implementation.
Professional training provided by CARE to the
personnel of partner people’s banks. The staff of
participating BPs attend annual trainings
organized by UBPR and CARE to discuss specific
circumstances and needs of the new clientele of
SLAs who are much poorer than typical BP
members. In addition to this training, which is
attended by BP managers and credit officers,
UBPR regional representatives monitor and
support implementation.
SEAD and other Trickle Up local partner NGOs in
most cases already work with very poor
communities. Trickle Up also trains partner NGO
staff in the importance (for the TU mission) to
reach the very poor and how to reach the very
poor by using a TU designed poverty targeting
tool.

N/A: no training on mission and poverty outreach.

EWs were trained to train and assist the women
groups as they progressed through the WEP
training manuals, from forming a strong group to
starting regular savings, lending out accumulated
savings among members and improving
microenterprise activities.
Staff is hired with a strong social mission as a
significant art of their job and their qualifications
going into the job. Mission and vision are clearly
explained when a loan officer enters the job.
Training is usually done both in the central office
going over policies and procedures as well as
mission and vision for the organization. Then loan
officers are placed with another loan officer to
observe and learn from a more seasoned loan
officer. Follow up training is done both through
meetings and exchange opportunities in other
branch offices to identify common challenges and
different strategies to overcome them. Incentives
are used to encourage reaching the poorest
clients through average loan size. Additional
incentives could be considered to encourage
reaching to more rural and hard to reach areas. In
2008, it is planned to make a more concentrated
effort to reach the poorest clients with a special
loan product that better fits their needs as well as
stronger training in business development.
When Credit with Education was first introduced to
the organization in 1993, senior managers, and
Federation- and Regional-level Directors
participated in a workshop designed and
facilitated by Freedom from Hunger staff. This
workshop engaged participants to analyze the
benefits and challenges for the institution to adopt
the new line of service. In particular, RCPB was
able to reflect on the opportunity to reach an un-
served client segment: very poor women living
beyond the cooperatives' traditional catchment
area, or unable to avail the services offered by the
cooperatives. Staff recruitment within RCPB is
centralized: the Federation fills all open positions
for the entire network, and conducts initial staff
training. Further in-service training is provided at
the Regional level. Training on CEE is focused on
direct implementers (animatrices and
coordinatrices), while cooperative Managers and
Directors receive an orientation to the product, its
objectives and procedures. The field staff
(animatrices and coordinatrices) are initially
trained using curriculum developed by Freedom
from Hunger, with local adaptation to the
institutional context. The CEE Program Manager
and the Federation's training department facilitate
the training. Animatrices then typically shadow
veteran colleagues in order to better assimilate
the field realities and subtleties of their duties.
Over time, field staff receive in-service refresher
trainings, as well as trainings on additional
educational modules. These trainings take place
at the regional or federation level, depending on
how well the training is assimilated at the regional
level, and how widespread the need for a
particular topic is. Cooperative Managers receive
an orientation to the CEE methodology, such that
they are able to monitor the animatrices and their
performance. Directors are also sensitized to the
product, in particular Credit Committee members
who must delegate their loan approval authority
to field staff in order to ensure rapid group
recapitalization at the end of a loan cycle. These
trainings are performed by the area's
coordinatrice, or by the CEE Program Manager,
using a scaled-down version of the MOT. At this
level, greater emphasis is placed on increasing
membership by reaching out to underserved
populations, than on the fact that these are "very
poor" populations.
Staff training at Nirdhan is centralized in the
headquarters-level training department. Having
passed through the examination and interview
process, recruits spend a week at headquarters
for an introduction to the bank and its operations.
They are then posted to a branch office for six
months of on-the-job training. Recruits are
partnered with senior field assistants who guide
and monitor them closely. After six months,
trainees are either let go or are promoted to the
status of full-time staff. Although the focus of
training for field assistants is practical, there is
also important classroom based training on the
Nirdhan lending methodology, policies, and
procedures. During these training sessions new
staff are introduced to the goals and mission of
Nirdhan and are sensitized to the importance of
serving poor clients. Nirdhan managers are
usually hired from within, so they have already
been trained on Nirdhan's poverty mission and are
experienced in the bank's operations. Additional
training for managers is provided through regional
workshops and seminars organized by Grameen
Trust, CASHPOR and other group lending
institutions.
ASA-GV has a separate training department
consist of two senior management staff with two
training co-coordinators. The team takes care of
the trainings for staff in all level. As per the
following table different level of staff are getting
different kinds of training. Board members and
senior management team are regularly attending
different national international level training,
workshops, conferences and visiting different
organizations for updating the program and MF
sector. The divisional managers and the zonal
managers and the core team members are acting
as resource persons for the training to the field
level staff. Some special guests professors from
management institute and colleges are invited for
special trainings such risk management,
personality development, communication skill,
etc. ASA has been adapting an integrated
approach to its economic empowerment and
Community Development programs. The
community is being organized using microfinance
as the entry point activity. The sustainable
delivery of the services focusing on socio-political
empowerment of women largely depends on the
platform formed by credit programs. Hence there
was a potential threat to view the activities merely
as a credit program. ASA realized the need for
increasing the focus on development programs, so
as to keep pace with the growth of credit services.
ASA aimed at achieving this objective by training
its staff and women leaders on effective
integration of credit and credit plus activities.
No specific staff training or sensitization on
poverty outreach is required because it is the
mission of the NGO. CCF-India’s strategic plan is
based on a commitment to work in the poorest
districts in India, which were identified in a study
it commissioned. Once the priority districts were
selected, CCF-India searched for partners who had
a presence in the target districts, and were
capable of implementing its programs. Poverty is
the key criterion that identifies 1) the poorest
communities within the district and 2) poor
families within those communities.

CCF undertakes a regular induction program of its

partners, where poverty criteria are explained,
along with how to use tools to identify poorer
members of the community. CCF area field staffs
monitor the families/children actually enrolled for
the sponsorship program to verify application of
the poverty outreach policy.

The training that is provided does not place

emphasis on reaching the poorest clients. It places
fundamental emphasis on knowing the population,
processes and techniques to reach clients, the
loan conditions and above all how to manage the
loan methodology. This training is done both in
the field (practical) and in the office (theoretical).
The training for the Board and other management
positions is similar. It includes a practical part
about the products and services that the
organization provides and about the population
and clients we work with, and it also includes
specialized training. There is no training for follow-
up.
All staff hired is oriented on ECDI's mission and
work and it is ensured that they understand and
subscribe to its values. Capacity-building and in-
house training is a regular feature of general staff
development initiatives. Training is delivered by
ECDI's cadre of professional trainers, although
external agencies/programs are also tapped into
as and when required.
The sensitisation with respect to reaching the poor
starts with the first steps of the recruitment
process. The applicants receive a leaflet with all
the info about ABA, its mission, the different
products, and their benefits. There are also
statements from 3 different persons about ABA's
work and its social and economic orientation: a
religious leader, the first imam of al azhar
mosque, the minister of co-development and a
USAID representative. All the staff whatever their
hierarchical level is, are aware of the mission, and
support the depth of poverty outreach strategy
with a religious sensitivity. Even though the social
value of their work with the poor is acknowledged,
the more we go down on the hierarchy the more
the religious pride for their work is predominant to
the social value. Training is mandatory and is an
ongoing concern for staff and managers, not
including BOD members, as they are not
participating by any means in day to day
management. The field staff receive training when
hired. Besides the practical aspects of the work, it
is supposed to include sensitization for the specific
features of the clients. It is provided by the
management. They start with 10 days classroom
training on mission, vision, formalities, the target
group, their features, the specificities of this part
of the market, how to evaluate the quality of their
work... This is followed by 50 days of on-the-job
training, 20 of which the coordinator is
accompanied by the branch manager and the last
30 she does the work but under the control and
supervision of an experimented coordinator who
will report about her performance. Refreshment
programs are conducted later and more advanced
training is given for senior field officers.
Apparently the training does not insist enough on
specific poverty outreach areas as many
coordinators do not remember this aspect. The
primary focus is the on-the-job training, which is a
practical training (dealing with old clients,
prospecting for new clients, procedure for a first
loan and for a renewal) done with the branch
manager. As coordinators get their knowledge on
the field, their awareness of the mission and
poverty outreach aspects are better stressed
when the branch manager is sensitive to this
importance and keeps reminding his staff about
the social value of their work. This transmission is
linked to the personality, motivation and
commitment of the branch manager and the
experimented supervisors.
The Field Extension Officers (FEO) were trained by
a contractor* hired by Kenya BDS in how to work
with the women to form and operate groups
(group formation, leadership, bookkeeping and
loan management) as well as the technical
aspects of drying fish per the quality standards
required by Promisador. The training materials
and training of trainers for the FEOs was based
upon a training manual that Kenya BDS had used
successfully in working with Kenyan Tree Fruit
Farmers. In the initial program training was not
provided to Promasidor's local management in
how to manage the newly hired FEOs and
administering the loan program. In the second
phase starting in the Summer of 2007 these
identified training needs are being addressed.
Additionally the FEOs are receiving additional
training and support in how to work with the
women and disbursements and collections of
credit.
 Case Study 2.2.3.1 MF/MED model products and
services
CARE Rwanda Savings: mandatory passbook savings, term
deposits, retirement savings, home purchase
savings / Loans: agriculture, livestock, trade,
transport, equipment loans (12-13%
interest); emergency credit, salary advance
loans, lines of credit / Microcredit: to
individual microentrepreneurs (14% annual
interest rate) as well as solidarity groups
(13% annual interest rate) / Funds transfer:
domestic and international (Western Union) /
Foreign exchange / Automated Teller
Machines (ATM).

Trickle Up Mali N/A

PACT Nepal N/A
Friendship Bridge FBG has one main loan product using the
Guatemala trust bank methodology. The loans are
mostly for 6 months with an average loan
balance of $185. The interest rate is 24% flat
per year. Meetings are held every 28 days.
There is a mandatory savings program that
averages 10% of the loan amount or around
$18 per client. This savings is returned at
the end of the loan cycle.

FFH/RCPB Burkina The foundation of RCPB's activities is deposit

Faso services for its members. The average
savings as of 31 December 2006 was $418
per member (account) or $199 per individual.
Ordinary saving accounts (sight deposits)
have no minimum or maximum balance,
transaction size or transaction frequency.
Members make deposits and withdrawals in
person at the cooperative or its service point
during opening hours. Ordinary savings are
not remunerated. Term savings of 3 months
or more are remunerated at 1.5% to 2.5%
percent, but these represent less than 2% of
total savings. All of RCPB's loan products
have a compulsory savings requirement,
which can be met by freezing a set amount
upfront or having an automatic monthly
deduction from one's salary deposit.
Save/Nirdhan Nirdhan uses three financial services models:
Nepal group lending and savings (individual loans
with solidarity group guarantee), village bank
lending and savings (self-reliance group) and
individual lending and savings. Nirdhan
offers a wide range of loan products including
general loans, agricultural loans, business
loans, tube well loans, sanitary loans,
housing loans and microenterprise loans.
Maximum loan size for these different
products ranges from $43 for an agricultural
loan to $1,430 for an individual loan.
Average loan size across the portfolio is
$110.
ASA India ASA-GV offers collateral free loans to women
belonging to poor families mainly for income
generation purposes. Consumption and
housing loans are also provided taking into
account the need and circumstances. These
loans are given on the basis of group
guarantee. Repayment is also ensured
through weekly centre meetings in small
affordable installments. ASA-GV is also
offering savings facility to its members.
Savings and credit are offered during the
centre meetings, which is usually conducted
by the FM every week. Each centre has
twenty members who will elect their leader.
During the centre meetings the elected
Centre Leader (CL) will collect the instalment
due and hand it over to the FM, who will
update passbook. Various issues related to
MF as well as others are discussed during the
meetings. The FM will update the database in
the office after conducting the mandatory
loan utilisation check.

CCF India N/A

Pro Mujer Peru See section 5

MEDA Pakistan N/A

ABA Egypt As an NGO and following the Egyptian law,
ABA can only provide credit.
Kenya BDS Promisdor the lead firm participating in the
program offers two forms of financing to
women's groups: No-interest loans for the
materials to construct fish drying racks - The
women are charged at cost for wire mesh,
nets, transport and skilled labour to construct
the racks. They then repay the loan
gradually over one to two seasons, with a
portion of the loan subtracted from the sales
price each time they sell dried fish to
Promisdor. Loan size range between 1,100
KES to 3,100 KES per rack, with an average
size of 2,170 KES. / No interest loans for
working capital to purchase fresh fish -
Individual women in the groups were initially
offered no interest loans of up to 3,000 KES
with which to buy fresh fish. The loans was
to be repaid within seven days through
deductions from their sales to Promisdor,
when the company's agents pick up the dried
fish. Future loans are provided on an as-
needed basis with the same terms. / Savings
Accounts - A requirement of participation in
the program is that all groups have a
registered group savings account with a local
bank or microfinance institution. Kenya BDS
links those groups not already holding an
account with the Co-Bank of Kenya, which
has a branch in the Homa Bay district. Kenya
BDS is not involved in setting the terms for
the savings accounts.
 2.2.3.2 Description of the principle
objective group
Very poor people are only a small but No formal selection or
growing minority of the People’s Banks’ targeting is employed.
customers. The following represents a
client distribution according to
professional background: civil servants
(17%), teachers (6%); traders (16%);
farmers (28%); small entrepreneurs
(4%); other (29%). BPR members are
predominantly wage earners and
salaried people.
N/A
N/A
There are 13,803 clients with loans. All
clients are women. The average client
has an income of $1.95/day. The
majority of clients (approx. 75%) are of
Mayan descent. FBG’s clients do not
have access to formal credit because
few of them have possessions to offer
as a collateral. Moreover, because many
of them live far from urban or semi-
urban areas, they do not have physical
access to banks because of the
distance. Illiteracy is another reason
why FBG’s clients do not have access to
credit, because they are not able to fill
out the paperwork necessary to
establish a working relationship with a
bank.
As of 31 December 2006, 954,761
persons were benefiting from RCPB's
services (and being cooperative
members, were all savers). Of these,
540,382 belonged to groups (Credit with
Education or other groups) and 11,375
were moral members, bringing RCPB's
cooperative membership to 454,550, of
which 108,788 had active loans. RCPB
clients are 72% men and 28% women,
and mainstream clients come from
modest and lower-middle-class
backgrounds: farmers, small business
owners, salaried workers, artisans,
professionals. Groupings other than
CEE/ACI/CFMU groups are organized
around joint or similar economic
undertakings.
2.2.3.3 Selection and
eligibility criteria
N/A
N/A
All clients fill out an in-take
form with demographic
information, poverty levels,
family and housing situation
and education levels. There
are no eligibility requirements
to join FBG program, just a
copy of your government
issued identification card and
a willingness to work with a
group guarantee loan.
RCPB membership is open to
all adult men and women who
reside or work in the
geographic area served by a
cooperative. Moral members
and groups can also join. All
members can apply for loans
starting three months after
joining, with a few exclusions
related to poor repayment
records, salary direct deposits
outside of the cooperative,
police records, and old age in
the case of large loan
requests.
Nirdhan's main target group is poor
entrepreneurs in underserved areas of
Nepal. All of Nirdhan's clients are
women and are typically among the
poorest women in the villages that the
bank serves. The bank's strategy is to
recruit first time clients among the 38%
of the population who are below the
poverty line. The vast majority of its
clients are unable to read or write and
many work as agricultural field laborers.
Average land holding among its client is
0.3 hectares. The main economic
activities of Nirdhan's clients are
livestock, gardening, petty trading and
food processing.
Nirdhan uses a set of simple
means testing criteria to
select poor clients and to
measure changes in poverty
among repeat borrowers.
Loan officers visit each
potential client before they
receive a loan and fill in a 6
page questionnaire regarding
their household and income.
When processing applications
for repeat loans, loan officers
fill in an abbreviated 2 page
questionnaire.
ASA targets poor villages in blocks and Before ASA-GV could start its
districts that are not currently served by operations, a comprehensive
alternative micro finance programs. In needs assessment survey will
other words, ASA does not compete in be conducted utilising the
the geographic expansion areas of other senior staff members and
NGOs. The target villages and women social auditors. The survey will
participants are identified through a be conducted using
cost-effective targeting tool developed Participatory Rural Appraisal
by ASA sixteen-point housing index and (PRA) as the tool to collect
participatory rapid assessment (PRA) data from various sources
wealth ranking technique. The such as district collector,
preferred client lives in a house that Office of the Village
scores less than 4 points on the ASA Administrative Officers (VAO),
housing index. This is typically a mud Panchayat leaders, Block
house with walls of less than 4 feet offices, Taluk head quarters,
having a temporary roof made either of villagers and local leaders etc.
thatch or old tiles. The typical poorest A new branch office will be
client household is a member of a established after assessing
scheduled caste/tribe and is composed the potentials. The staff
of husband, wife and four children members of the branch will be
ranging in age from a few months to 10 given a orientation training for
or 12 years. Special preference is given a couple of days about the
to female-headed households among outcomes of the needs
the poorest. Client households have less assessment survey, which
than .5 or less acre of wet land, or 1.5 or would help them to gain
less acres of dry land and maximum of specific knowledge about the
annual income (RS 12000.). Most clients area to be covered by their
belong to the lowest caste (dalit). branch office. The member
mobilisation and the
community organisation will
be initiated to identify the
potential women members
who could really be benefited
from the MF initiatives and
developments efforts of the
organisations. The members
are being identified using
internationally accepted tools
such as housing index, wealth
ranking and food index etc.
These members are then
approached for forming
groups who are then trained
for a week, which is called
Compulsory Groups Training
(CGT). A Group Recognition
Test (GRT) is then conducted
to measure the readiness of
the group for MF and other
services.

N/A N/A
As of 31.03.07, there are 34,510 women
with active loans (with loans and
savings). There are 2,112 clients who
only have savings, and 99.9% of the
clients are women. We do not have
detailed information about social status,
professional activities, type of
businesses or ethnic groups, but we can
estimate that 20% are dedicated to
production activities and 80% to trade.
Prior to this program, ECDI targeted
middle class, educated, mobile and
urban women hoping to start
businesses. Now, their main target
group is the poor, particularly the
homebound and rural poor, and they
work with working poor women as
intermediaries.
PMP does not have eligibility
criteria for its clients.
Institutionally, the
intervention zone is selected
based on the size of the
market, the poverty level and
other factors, such as the
presence of women, domestic
abuse, health conditions, etc.
The system itself provides a
natural selection mechanism
because it demands that
women commit a certain
amount of time in order to
participate in the meetings
and training sessions.
There were no standard
selection criteria - it depended
on the specific program.
The main loan product (SME individual For loan products the
lending programme) targets micro and eligibility requirements
small enterprises that have up to 5 and depend on some formalization
6 to 15 employees respectively. In 2007, steps of the existing business.
it represented 93% of the total They are tied with assistance
outstanding portfolio and 45.55% of the and business development
total active clients. The average SME services to the clients to
loan size and term are 3145 EGP and 10 accomplish them. For TSEP,
months respectively. Only 17% of SME the person asking for the
clients are female. SME clients are grant should not have income
active more in trade (48%) and services besides public aid, is in a
(34%). Manufacture (14%) and food difficult social situation
(4%) are the least represented among (female headed HH with many
the clients activities. children, sick husband unable
to work, may have nutrition
problems…), and the
existence and willingness to
put into practise a business
idea or expand a nascent one.
For the Blossom loans
requirement are similar to
TSEP but favour future clients
with an existing business for
the family and less
experienced living difficulty.
They have also to comply with
the eligibility criteria in Table
3.2 if they want bigger loans
or when they graduate.
Development path are the
former Blossoms clients that
have been in the programme
for a certain number of cycles.
It is a way to encourage them
to graduate to individual
loans. They are not allowed to
stay more than 6 cycles in the
programme. Men are allowed
in the groups but have to be
supported by at least a
woman from the group.
Eligibility verification is done
through field visits. For SME
loans, the extension officer
checks the conditions of the
business and the activity (raw
material indicating that there
are orders, business open, are
there clients…). He also asks
for supporting documents
(attesting identity, ownership
of assets, fiscal and social
security status…). For the
group loans the verification
concerns the infrastructure of
the household (water supply,
latrines, equipment…), area of
living (shantytowns...). As
As of June 2007 the program is working There is no selection or
with 642 women in 27 groups. eligibility criteria. Women
self-select and agree to form
a group and to register the
group with the Ministry of
Culture and Social Services.
 2.2.3.4 Use of tools to evaluate the poverty
level
The Banque Populaires do not use a poverty tool.

N/A
N/A
FBG has partnered with FINCA International to
pilot their FCAT, which is an assessment tool for
measuring poverty and various other social
indicators of a sample of FBG clients. This tool
was used in both 2006 and 2007. The FCAT
captures information on clients on demographics,
poverty status from the perspective of
expenditure data, business development
indicators, assets and ownership, social metrics
around education levels, illness, insurance, health
care, food security, urban and rural data. The
FCAT is used once a year. In addition, FBG has
implemented a client in-take form that includes
poverty indicators, demographics and education
levels for all incoming clients and a percentage of
renewing clients on an annual basis as well. Once
the database in fully functioning, this will provide
an additional check on who FBG clients are impact
measures over time.
N/A
Nirdhan uses several methods to assess the
poverty of its clients. Their principle method is a
linked system of client surveys, means tests and
client monitoring. Information gathered by loan
officers is fed into a Client Data Monitoring
System. The client survey collects information
regarding a potential client's living standard, type
of house, land ownership, earnings, employment
and loan history. The means test form collects
similar information, but is more comprehensive
and more detailed. Additional data include the
family history of the client, the educational status
of their children, land ownership, food sufficiency,
employment status, annual earnings of the family,
type of house the client lives in, type of roof of the
house, source of drinking water, latrine, household
goods, electricity and water access, kitchen
gardening, cattle farming and loan history. Client
monitoring forms contain the same basic
information regarding client economic status and
are completed at the beginning of each new loan
cycle. This combination of assessment tools helps
Nirdhan to select poor clients and to monitor their
changes in socio-economic status. Nirdhan
occasionally uses other more comprehensive tools
for measuring poverty outreach such as in depth
impact poverty impact assessments implemented
by outside consulting firms. Nirdhan has funded
these assessments an average of every 5 years,
with an initial poverty assessment study
implemented in 1996 and follow up studies in
2001 and 2006. Although these types of studies
are too expensive to implement more frequently,
they offer a valuable periodic reality check
regarding Nirdhan's progress in reaching the poor.
ASA has been using a combination of several
proxies to assess the poverty level of potential
clients. They include: housing index, monthly
household income per capita, caste, geographical
distribution of membership, economic sector

N/A
PMP carries out periodic evaluations (at least two
times a year) to measure the poverty level of its
clients and confirm it is reaching its target
population. This evaluation is based on a sample
rather than the entire client base, and is carried
out during a different period than when clients
enters PMP ( meaning that it does not necessarily
coincide with their entry into PMP). The method
consists of a survey to determine clients' income
and spending level, which is classified as less than
$1 a day, between $1 and $2 a day, and more
than $2 a day. Different groups are compared
(clients who have been in Pro Mujer for less than 1
year and clients who have been in PMP for a
longer period) in order to evaluate whether their
participation in PMP has generated any changes in
their income or spending. Other health and
education indicators are also evaluated.
No.
Poverty of clients is assessed but not through a
formalised method. ABA relies on the judgement
and experience of their staff. A non formal balance
used by TSEP volunteering staff is the threshold of
100 EGP per month per household member, in
terms of income.
Not directly. Women self-select for participation in
the program. However, the program operates in
one of the poorest regions in Kenya and prior to
the Kenya BDS intervention most of these women
operated at subsistence level.
 Case Study
CARE Rwanda
Trickle Up Mali
PACT Nepal

Friendship Bridge
Guatemala

FFH/RCPB Burkina
Faso

Save/Nirdhan
Nepal
ASA India

CCF India

Pro Mujer Peru

MEDA Pakistan

ABA Egypt
Kenya BDS
 2.2.5.2 Associations
none outside of CARE
N/A
Some local NGO partners also implement local development programs in partnership with
district authorities and other INGOs such as CARE, PLAN, etc.
FBG is currently working together with other organizations to provide a more integrated
service to our poor clients. One of our strongest alliances is with Mercado Global, which is
training 40 of our artisans clients in various aspects of textile production.

Kiva is another partner organization. Kiva acts as a liaison between, a poor woman willing
to receive credit and a person willing to invest their money at 0% interest rate in a micro-
credit program.

Cultural Explorer is a tourism agency with which we have recently begun to communicate.

Aprofam and FBG have similar missions in the area of health education and target the
same segments of the population them; we coordinate with them in the area of women’s
reproductive health.

In April of 2007, FBG joined forces with MFIs from Central and South America to
consolidate an informal “Financial Education Network” under the auspices of a workshop
sponsored by CityGroup and MicroOpportunities, and facilitated by Freedom from Hunger.
In October we will collaborate in a workshop in Nicaragua organized by several of the
network partners, with the goal of adapting several of the FFH modules to the Central
American context in a format that will be useful to all of the participating organizations.

FBG has also partnered with Johns Hopkins University to provide graduate student interns
to help improve the market study used to identify geographic target areas for FBG.

As mentioned above, FBG has partnered with FINCA to pilot their FCAT or client
assessment tool to better understand FBG clients and their needs.

RCPB enjoys a long-standing partnership with Développement International Desjardins

(DID), which has supported the network technically and financially from its inception. The
focus on institutional strength and viability promoted by DID have made it possible for
RCPB to diversify its product offerings toward the very poor in more rural areas.
Nirdhan has long standing relations with Save the Children and Plan International and both
Save and Plan have provided resident technical advisors to Nirdhan. The CEO of Nirdhan is
an active member of Save the Children's microfinance network. Nirdhan is currently
promoting the creation of a Nepalese association of microfinance development banks.
Partnership with Ford Foundation: Ford Foundation, which has been supporting the
development initiatives of ASA for almost the last two decades, has also extended support
for the transformation efforts of the microfinance program during 2004-05, with the
prospects of partnering with ASA-GV for future growth. The partnership with Ford
Foundation comes with a support of Rs.10 mln over two years, which will be used to
improve the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of GV. Ford Foundation has also provided grant
support for transformation training to staff as well as members, as well as for election of
SHG leaders, and for preparation of account books and accounting statements for the
SHGs. Strategic Partnership with SIDBI: Small Industries Development Bank of India
(SIDBI), one of the foremost financial institutions supporting microfinance in the country,
has been one among the major supporters of ASA-GV's microfinance program, with SIDBI's
loans for onward lending forming the highest proportion of ASA-GV's total portfolio, during
the past two years. During 2004-05 the partnership with SIDBI reached new heights with
their generous support for onward lending at lower interest rates, soft loan for
transformation as well as additional support for capacity building. High-Growth Partnership
with Grameen Foundation: Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) is a global non-profit
organization that combines microfinance, new technologies, and innovative thinking to
empower the world's poorest people to escape poverty. Grameen Foundation has been a
strategic partner for a long time, actively supported investment in transformation and the
relationship was strengthened further through a "high growth partnership" agreement
signed between ASA-GV and GFUSA. The support for high growth will be in the form of
funds for onward lending, and support for capacity building. Partnership with Unitus:
Unitus is a not-for-profit organization based in US, with the mission of accelerating the
growth of microfinance institutions (MFIs) across the world. The Unitus partnership with
ASA-GV comes with support for software, training and staff development and other
capacity building support in addition to facilitating transformation.
LEEP is based on a partnership model. Within the priority districts that CCF-India has
identified as being the “most backward” or in need, local NGO partners who share CCF-
India’s mission are identified. The scale of CCF-India’s operations, e.g. serving 1.02 million
children, makes the use of partnerships a necessity. It allows for quality programming in
the context of intimate familiarly with the local context. Management and accountability
are decentralized to the local level. Partnerships are entered into through an elaborate
process of screening and negotiations. Partners not only benefit from the funding, but the
relationship strengthens their organizational capacity. For LEEP, partners are rated as
category A, B or C, each of which has its own development challenges and needs. It is the
long-term plan that all partners become “A” category implementers. The
partnership/grant model is sustainable in the sense that CCF-India has been working for 55
years, and the level of sponsorship funding is a reliable source that continues to grow.
PMP does not define this type of relationship as a partnership but as a strategic alliance.
This aim of these alliances is to establish relationships with other institutions, whether
they be public or private, in order to be able to offer complementary services that PMP
does not provide. These alliances could be with a bank that administers the clients'
savings, with healthcare providers to whom we can refer our clients, or other institutions
that provide specialized training to provide our clientele with technical assistance. These
alliances have evolved and become fine tuned over time, and have also fundamentally
been with healthcare and specialized training providers because PMP offers integral
services through outsourcing with these institutions. It has never offered these services
directly. Currently we have alliances with public institutions such as: Ministry of Health
(MINSA), National University of the Altiplano, Ministry of Labor and Social Promotion,
Ministry of Education (Pronoi and Priet Program). And with private institutions such as:
INNPARES, Technology University of the Andes, Andean University Néstor Cáceres
Velásquez.
The partnerships between MEDA and ECDI and then between ECDI and private sector
businesses in the value chain are the main partnerships at work in this program. ECDI is in
the process of forming relationships, and building on existing relationships, with
microfinance institutions to offer credit to sales agents. They are also beginning to look
more at whether and how women are accessing social services - education and health, for
example - that will enhance the impact of increased income.

ABA-SME established many partnerships with charity NGOs to better serve the poorest
through the TSEP product. This partnership is seen as a win-win-win situation. ABA
increases its outreach to the poorest with an additional filter (that insures the beneficiaries
are needy), with a reduced cost since the NGO makes the first selection, screening and
advertises that ABA selects only the ones with a business idea. The charity NGO gets an
additional service to its beneficiaries and helps them get out of this vicious circle by
providing them with entrepreneurship opportunities. The charity NGO will so be able to
address the needs of other persons unable to work and in a worse social situation. The
beneficiaries have the grant help, access to business minded staff that interact with them,
provide them with the basic observations and constructive criticism on their business
ideas. They also have the possibility to graduate to poverty lending, expand their business
and get out of the aid circle, although the possibility to access group loan was not
advertised enough with all the TSEP beneficiaries and even with some of the partner
charity NGOs. The NGOs are thoroughly selected. Clarity of mission and a good track
record are a must. ABA-SME reviews their audited accounts, a list of their staff and their
activities before starting the collaboration. Yet they don't provide them with trainings
neither are linked by a formal contract. ABA has another partnership with the
governmental institution organising literacy classes. The classes already exist and are
sponsored by the government but both organisation of the courses and attendance rate
are perfectible. ABA gives monetary incentives to teachers and personnel of the schools so
they are more effective and motivated. They also give food incentives to the Blossoms
clients to encourage them to attend the classes.
For the Omena project, Kenya BDS partnered with the private firm Promisdor. Promisdor
was planning to enter into the export market for dried Omena (minnow) in Malawi and
needed a secure, high quality supply. Kenya BDS entered into the partnership, since it
allowed the program to provide women fish dryers with a link to a stable, high value,
guaranteed market for their fish. The partnership also enabled Kenya BDS to base the
program on commercial terms, since by partnering with Promidsor, it allowed Kenya BDS
to provide the women with the needed technical assistance and commercial financing to
upgrade their production sufficiently to sell into the higher value export market. Kenya
BDS worked with a local firm contracted by the program to identify women for the
program. The women were trained in the financial and business management skills they
would need to professionalize their operations, as well as in how to process the fish to the
grade required by Promisdor. The women were trained by agents who were initially
trained by the local firm and paid by Kenya BDS. After three months, the agents were
transferred to Promisdor's permanent payroll. One year into the project the local firm still
has one full time staffer that works with the Promisdor agents and the women. The plan is
to phase out this staffer in year two and to graduate all work with the women to the
Promisdor agents. As discussed in this section and previous, Promisdor provides the
women with a guaranteed market and price. Promisdor also provides the women with
market information and training in terms of the size and quality of fish it desires and how
to dry the fish to meet these standards. Promisdor assists the women to upgrade and
increase their total production through interest free loans for drying racks and working
capital to purchase fresh fish for processing. To date and as will be discussed more in later
sectors the program has had mixed results with the women providing up to 50% monthly
of the quantities which Promisdor requires. There have also been some challenges in loan
repayments by the women and in developing quality agents for Promisdor. It is also not
evident that midevel management in Promisdor completely support the program. Despite
these challenges both Kenya BDS and Promisdor's senior management and owners remain
committed to the program and will continue to collaborate in its second year. Promisdor
also remains committeed to providing interest free loans to the women and paying the
agents' salaries with no ongoing subsidies from Kenya BDS.
 Case Study 4.1.1.1 Which poverty indicators are collected?
CARE Rwanda Client poverty is not assessed routinely. However,
several funded projects have required baseline and
end-of-project measurement of certain client data, such
as age, gender, main source of income, land
ownership, meals consumer per day, education, etc.
While some might be strong indicators of poverty,
poverty data as such as not obtained.
Trickle Up Mali These are the poverty scorecard questions. Note that
answer choices are not included: How many family
members are 17 years old or younger? How many
children ages 6 to 14 attend school? What is the
highest educational level that the female spouse/head
has completed? How many members of the household
work in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, or
forestry? How many members of the household hold a
salaried job? What is the main construction material of
the residence’s roof? What is the main construction
material of the residence’s floor? What is the
residence’s main source of lighting? What is the main
source of drinking water? What is the main fuel for
cooking? What toilet arrangements does the household
have? How many rooms does the household occupy?
Do you have an improved wood-burning stove? Is there
a kitchen? Does the household own any plows, harrows,
grain mills, tractors, motorized pumps, motorized
cultivators, or vaporizers (pumps for cotton)? Does the
household own any handcarts, bicycles, or motorbikes?
Does the household own any radios? Does the
household own any televisions? Does the household
own any telephones? Does the household own any
fans? Minimum possible score (most likely poor): 0
Maximum possible score (least likely poor): 41
PACT Nepal N/A
Friendship Bridge The most significant poverty indicators gathered by
Guatemala FBG are though the FCAT assessment tool. The
indicators gathered are: household information,
education levels of clients, literacy, asset information,
housing type, access to water, sanitary facilities,
cooking fuel, access to electricity, access to insurance,
access to medical services and use of medical services,
prenatal care, poverty levels by expenditure data,
urban and rural and children’s education information.
FFH/RCPB Burkina Two poverty indicators were used in the 2003 HMQ
Faso study: 1) The level of household food security during
the twelve months preceding the interview. While the
concept of food security is universal, this indicator must
be adapted to the national (if not regional) context to
ensure relevance to culture and to dietary habits. 2)
The daily consumption per capita during the previous
twelve months, computed from annual expenditure
data in specific categories. Both indicators offer
interesting insights into different aspects of poverty.
While the consumption indicator is more sensitive
across a wide spectrum of poverty levels, the food
security indicator readily identifies severe poverty and
provides gradations within that range.
Save/Nirdhan Nirdhan gathers a comprehensive set of poverty data
Nepal for each new client which is entered into their Client
Data Monitoring System. A means test survey collects
information regarding family history, educational
status, land ownership, food sufficiency, employment
status, annual earnings, type of house, type of roof,
source of drinking water, latrine, household goods,
electricity and water access, kitchen gardening, cattle
farming and loan history. Changes in client poverty
status are monitored each time they apply for a new
loan.
ASA India Underemployment, income sources, land ownership,
asset ownership, income level, access to markets,
access to banks, access to doctors and clinics,
proneness to natural disasters
CCF India LEEP uses two types of poverty indicators, one is an
absolute, universal measure of whether a family is
above or below the poverty line (APL or BPL), and the
other is a set of indicators that provide a relative
measure of the poverty of the participant’s family in
relation to its position within the community.

The absolute measure of poverty is the appearance of

a family on the government’s list as being BPL.

At the community level, relative poverty looks at

indicators of vulnerability, like female headed
households, above average number of dependents, or
family member with a disability or chronic illness that
requires special care. The community also considers
the assets of the family, like land owned, condition of
house, animals, appliances, and any forms of
transportation, as mobility is a major indicator of
wealth. The final indicator is the existence of a regular
job.
Pro Mujer Peru Pro Mujer Peru seeks to measure the impact of our
integral services on poor women. As a result, the first
study of social indicators, developed in coordination
with the Pro Mujer Network, took place in 2005. Five
indicators were prioritized: Per Capita Spending, Access
to Health Services / Health Culture, Employment
Generation, the Growth and Development of Children,
and Participation Social Organizations. This information
was gathered through the application of a structured
survey, based on the specific selected indicators. For
its application, a sample was established marking a
differentiation between the group of long standing
clients and the group of new clients. The operations
staff participated in the application of the survey. One
of the objectives of PMP's strategic plan is to
periodically measure PMP's impact, identifying specific
social impact indicators which will allow us to have a
clear vision of the influence we are having on women's
lives, basically determining the transcendental changes
that we seek to achieve through the integral services
we provide. However, it must be emphasized that we
are aware that PMP's intervention is not the only
element that has an impact on these changes.
Therefore we have selected specific, prioritized
indicators in areas where we have placed the greatest
emphasis. This work is carried out every two years. As
such, the second evaluation will be carried out in 2007.
MEDA Pakistan Embroider sales and empowerment data.

ABA Egypt For TSEP, here is the list of questions asked for in the
form: - Family composition - The income of all family
members being part of the same household. - Age of
the household members - are they student or worker -
Social situation - Succinct description of the house
(location and infrastructure). The decision process
relies on a subjective appreciation of the overall
poverty level of the household. An appreciation of the
income level per household member is also used
without being systematic and formalized.

Kenya BDS N/A

 4.1
4.1.1.2 What poverty assessment tool is 4.1.2.3.1. For client
used? monitoring?
N/A N/A

Judgmental Poverty Scorecard N/A

N/A N/A
Data from the FCAT (FINCA Client Assessment Understanding who our
Tool) is collected once a year by outside clients are based on
consultants through an interview process with a FBG’s mission of serving
random sampling of the client base. FBG is those living below the
implementing a new tool that will collect similar poverty line and at least
data around poverty indicators when a client 30% living in extreme
enters FBG and a random sample of current poverty.
clients annually. This will be analyzed on an
ongoing basis, but has only started to be
implemented this year.
The HMQ study in Burkina Faso administered two N/A
poverty measurement tools to the same
population sample, related to the two poverty
indicators selected. 1) A Food-Security Scale (FSS)
adapted by Freedom from Hunger from an
existing U.S. Department of Agriculture Food-
Security Scale. The USDA's FSS was originally
developed for use in the United States, and had
already been adapted for use in Mexico. This tool
characterizes a household's level of food security
using a series of predetermined individual
interview questions that query the respondent
about his or her household's food consumption
during the previous twelve months. In Freedom
from Hunger's adaptation of the tool, nine
questions query respondents on the occurrence of
specific measured levels of food insecurity during
the period; eight of these questions have a follow-
up that seeks to qualify the frequency or chronic
occurrence of these conditions. This dual scale
(occurrence and frequency) helps identify
progressively higher levels of food insecurity
among respondent households, and ultimately
registers the most severe food insecurity that
occurred at any time during the year (other than
very rarely). 2) The LSMS consumption module
from the Living Standards Measurement Survey
developed by the World Bank, which in its entirety
was used to construct the $1-a-day and $2-a-day
international poverty lines. The questionnaire
used in this study included the following sections:
Household roster, Education for each household
member, Food and cooking fuel, Food as payment
for employment, Food consumed from own
business, Non-food items, Daily expenses, Health,
Dwelling expenses and services, Remittances,
Durable goods. For both tools, it is critically
important to word the questions in a way to take
into account local dialects, practices and values.
Local enumerators performed a first adaptation of
each tool's questionnaire, after which the tools
were tested with a focus group of CEE clients
sharing similar characteristics with the sample,
before questionnaire finalization. Both
questionnaires are individually administered by an
enumerator. The consumption module tool can
take over an hour to administer, especially if large
household rosters must be created, and is
sometimes administered over several sessions to
prevent response quality drop-off. The FSS can be
administered in ten to fifteen minutes. The FSS's
sensitivity is restricted to the "very poor" end of a
range of poverty levels, while the consumption
module's sensitivity applies to a much broader
range.
N/A N/A

Again, ASA uses Housing Index as the primary tool Data on Housing Index
for poverty assessment. In the meantime, ASA has among new members is
participated in the pilot testing of the Progress out used for monitoring the
of Poverty Index (PPI) of GFUSA and Poverty performance on outreach
Assessment Tool of USAID/IRIS. The latter two are to the target clients:
not fully institutionalized in ASA. In the case of Increase in the
Housing Index, it is a participatory process. It is proportion of new
explained in Section 3. members falling in less
poor category would
indicate management to
take a closer look at
whether or not the target
group of poorest has
been reached. Also,
when compared over
time, data on Housing
Index of the same
member indicates
change in the asset level
of the member, hence
impact indicator.
The Government BPL List It is the explicit goal of
LEEP to ensure that
For the absolute measure, LEEP measures poverty every family is earning at
using the Government of India definition, e.g. Rs. least Rs.18000, which
18000 income per year. As part of its poverty would move them from
eradication program, the government uses survey BPL to APL. In this
data to maintain a community specific list of context, the poverty line
families that are defined as being BPL. becomes a universal
monitoring tool that
Participatory Wealth Ranking (PWR) measures the success of
participants. Monthly
With the PWR indicator, it is the relative poverty income diaries are used
vis a via the other families in the community that to monitor how much
matters. Household characteristics combined with income is being
asset ownership are used to determine a families generated. If income is
wealth, or lack thereof. The process concludes not reaching the
with a ranking of who in the village is the poorest, anticipated target level,
in relative terms. While there are similarities, LEEP assumes
each PWR index is based on what the community responsibility for
feels is important. investigating and
addressing the cause.
CCF-India finds it is important to use both the The term used by LEEP
absolute and relative tools. The government BPL staff to describe this
list is particularly useful in identifying monitoring process was
communities with large concentrations of poor “aggressive.”
families, and helps prioritize selection. While the
BPL list is a good starting point, one of the
dangers is its objectivity, i.e. the political
considerations that affect how/if one gets on the
list. Experience has shows that in a given
community, only 60% to 70% of the poor get
identified. The PWR tool catches those cases
where a misclassification may have occurred, i.e.
poor but not on the government list. The PWR
also acts as a crosscheck of government data.
In order to measure the social impact of PMP on its Pro Mujer Peru considers
clients, we obtain information from two the poverty information
populations in different phases in PMP. The two or data to be
populations of this study include those clients that fundamental. In order to
are entering PMP for the first time and those select or make a decision
clients who have finished the eighth cycle. These about entering a new
two populations are called the control group and market, one of the
the experienced group and are defined as follows: principle indicators we
- The control group: The control group includes consider is the poverty
clients who are entering Pro Mujer for the first level, as our mission is to
time. These clients have not yet received the reach and serve poor
benefits of being PMP members and therefore women in order to
form a control group for the purposes of the study. contribute to improving
- The experienced group: The experienced group their standard of living so
is a group of clients who have finished a minimum that, with their work and
of 8 cycles (three years) as members of PMP or access to opportunities,
more. All of these clients have more than three they can gradually leave
years with PMP. The design of this study assumes poverty behind. When
that with this amount of time in PMP, it is possible Pro Mujer Peru selected
to see evidence of changes in the lives of our the different
clients. In order to obtain the necessary departments where it
information for this study, the Pro Mujer Cycle 1 currently works, one of
Client Data File is applied to all clients who are the principle aspects it
entering PMP for the first time, or the control took into account was
group. For the experienced group, the Pro Mujer the poverty indicator.
Cycle 8 Data File is applied. These two files were The first department
designed to gather general information as well as where Pro Mujer Peru
household, business and health data. These two began operating, Puno,
files allow PMP to gather information about the had a rate of 77.3%
economic and social situations of the two client poverty and 50.7%
groups within PMP. Additionally, a survey is extreme poverty. Later,
conducted which is applied only to a sample PMP opted for the
population. This survey is aimed at expanding department of Tacna
upon the information, obtaining a broad amount of with 34% poverty, and
information on the indicators to be measured. The Moquegua with 28.5%
Client Data files are applied by the operations poverty and 7.6%
staff. The survey is applied with the support of extreme poverty.
students in their final years of social science
degree programs in the university. The application
of the survey takes longer and is only used for the
purposes of the study, something that is different
than the application of the file, which is part of the
regular responsibilities of the staff. It is important
to mention that Pro Mujer does not have a system
or software that allows it to register all this
information. However, it is developing software
that will allow it to do so. As a result, the process
takes longer as this information is processed only
for the impact indicators study and only for the
sample.
It is an impact assessment tool developed for the Yes. For example, if sales
program. are low in some areas,
program managers might
pay more attention to
these sales agents,
identify challenges and
help to resolve them
through training,
creation of additional
market linkages, etc.
Where sales are high and
possibly unmanageable,
the program might help
to introduce more sales
agents to the area, etc.

No poverty assessment tool is used Poverty data is not

explicitly used for client
monitoring. Coordinators
might keep this
information in mind while
dealing with the client,
but this is not
systematized. For TSEP,
the creation of an
income generating
activity is the monitoring
base. The time frame
between the first and
second installment is too
short (3 months) to allow
for a proper monitoring.

N/A N/A
 4.1.2.3. How are poverty data used by organization?
4.1.2.3.3. For client
4.1.2.3.2. For client screening? targeting?
N/A N/A

N/A N/A

N/A N/A

N/A N/A
N/A N/A
N/A N/A

Before ASA-GV could start its Housing Index is the primary

operations, a comprehensive needs targeting tool for ASA
assessment survey is conducted
utilising the senior staff members and
social auditors. The survey is conducted
using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
as the tool to collect data from various
sources such as district collector, Office
of the Village Administrative Officers
(VAO), Panchayat leaders, Block offices,
Taluk head quarters, villagers and local
leaders etc. A new branch office is
established after assessing the
potentials. The staff members of the
branch are given a orientation training
for a couple of days about the outcomes
of the needs assessment survey, which
would help them to gain specific
knowledge about the area to be covered
by their branch office. The staff member
then gathers information on potential
members using Participatory Wealth
Ranking. Once potential clients are
identified, the staff member visits the
house of the potential client to gather
info on Housing Index.
 A major purpose of the
poverty assessment tool is
client targeting. First, priority
LEEP is one component in the integrated
districts are identified as
package of health, education and
having the highest proportion
livelihood programs delivered to a CCF
of people living in poverty.
community. The entry point for a family
Within these priority districts,
is eligibility for child sponsorship. Once
NGO partners identify clusters
a family is selected, a parent is eligible
of communities that have the
to participate in LEEP, e.g. the livelihood
highest concentration of poor.
support program. Resource limitations
Finally, the selected
have necessitated the rationing of
communities participate in a
participation to CCF enrolled families,
ranking process that identifies
who by the community’s definition are
those most in need. The
the poorest. As resources grow in the
families emerging from this
future, non-sponsorship families in the
process become CCF
community will be able to participate,
sponsorship families, LEEP
but they will always be required to be
participants, and ultimately
BPL at the point of entry into the
loan clients.
program.

In theory, all those living below the

poverty line would appear on the
government list. CCF-India understands
that there are political considerations
that can influence appearance on the
list, and inclusion is not always
objective. In reality, CCF estimates that
70% of the poor actually appear on the
BPL list. That means that are some 30%
who qualify, but are not properly
identified. CCF-India compensates for
clear cases of list exclusion, but
considering the BPL status in
conjunction with the PWR described
below.
N/A N/A
No. No.

The use for screening is limited since When targeting TSEP

the eligibility criteria a TSEP grant beneficiaries, ABA cooperates
depends on the subjective assessement with charity associations
by an ABA employee of the household's which are usually set up in
income level. this is supplemented by poor neighborhoods. The
other qualitative indicators, such as targeting is then based on the
condition of the house, household evaluation of the area and the
members are students or workers ect. partner associations and not
However no formalized systems, such as of the individuals. Only about
ranking or scores, are used. A similar 10% to 20% of the TSEP
qualitative approach is used for Blossom beneficiaries do not come to
product. The quantitative use of data for ABA through
screening is only applied for the non associations.They either hear
poverty oriented loan product. about TSEP from relatives or
neighbors and present
themselves to the
headquarters or are identified
and sent by Blossoms
coordinators. In both
situations the screening is
more costly, takes more time
and energy from the team.
They need to go on a field
visit to only one beneficiary
while for associations' they
see on one day all the
beneficiaries proposed by the
association as they are
usually in the same
neighborhood.
N/A N/A
by organization?
4.1.2.3.4. For impact 4.1.2.3.5. For
monitoring/assessment? other uses?
N/A N/A

N/A N/A

N/A N/A
Maintaining poverty levels of Definitely use the
clients overtime, FBG will be able information from
to assess impact of programs on poverty assessment
FBG’s ultimate goal of poverty in fundraising, P/R
alleviation as well as designing and donor
products and services specific to education.
different poverty levels.
N/A N/A
N/A N/A

As explained earlier, a change in Currently, it is not

the Housing Index for repeat used for funding
clients over time is used as an raising, PR, etc.
indicator for tracking the change in
the asset level of clients. Currently,
it is not used for product
development.
The findings coming from the PWR Child sponsorship
not only indicate that a family is in funding is most
the poorest category (the face of effective when a
poverty), but provide insight into personal link
why the family is there (the root between the child
cause(s) of poverty). CCF-India and a sponsor is
works to influence a wide range of established.
determinants of family poverty. As Anecdotal examples
such, it collects a range of data of how the lives of
covering health, education and the child’s family
income using CCF, Inc’s. Annual and community
Impact Monitors and Evaluation have been impacted
System (AIMES) tool (see Appendix by program
2 for consolidated statistics). interventions
typically appears in
The link between poverty fundraising
monitoring/assessment and LEEP materials, annual
product development is quite reports and other
simple, e.g. if the program does publications of CCF-
not move clients APL – revisit the India.
design. At this point, LEEP is
satisfied with the progress that is
being made, and is content to
continue to make minor
refinements to its existing loan
products and services.
N/A N/A
Yes. Fundraising, public
relations, staff
motivation, fulfilling
existing obligation
to donor.

Poverty data is not used for impact TSEP is presented to

monitoring or for product external partners,
development. national and
international
stakeholders (not
the poverty data
per se) as a poverty
oriented product
integrated in the
"reach down, scale
up" philosophy and
strategy of the
institution. The
stress is put on the
number of
graduates to
Blossoms product

N/A N/A
 4.2.1. Poverty distribution
results by internal poverty
Case Study data collection method
CARE Rwanda N/A

Trickle Up Mali N/A

PACT Nepal N/A

Friendship Bridge N/A

Guatemala
FFH/RCPB Burkina N/A
Faso

Save/Nirdhan N/A
Nepal
ASA India % of entering clients defined
as Very Poor (Housing Index
score of less than 4): 58% / %
of entering clients defined as
Poor (Housing Index score of
5-8): 37% / % of entering
clients defined as less poor
(Housing Index score of
greater than 8) : 5%
CCF India Results for moving families
APL are currently only
available at the NGO level.
The new MIS will allow soon
allow for analysis of overall
performance. Currently,
knowledge about a specific
family is know and monitored
by the Technical Specialist. If
progress is not being made,
the family is identified for
follow-up.
Pro Mujer Peru As a result of the study of
social impact indicators it was
determined that 35% of the
households of new clients are
in extreme poverty, compared
with 25% of the households of
longstanding clients. Another
important piece of data is that
new clients live on $1.26 per
day, while long standing
clients live on $1.50.
MEDA Pakistan N/A
ABA Egypt The clients' proportion for
each of the poverty categories
is the clients' proportion for
each of the credit products
provided by ABA. In July 2007,
the SME active clients were
46% of the total clients (31
043) while group lending
active clients (including
development path and
Blossoms) were 36 072 (54%
of the total). the number of
TSEP beneficiaries is not
available monthly. Since
inception of the different
products, the proportion of
SME clients compared to
overall is 54 per cent, the
proportion of group loans
clients is 44 per cent and the
proportion of TSEP clients is 2
per cent.
Kenya BDS N/A
 4.2.2. Poverty data from a recent poverty and/or impact assessment stud
A study done in Nshili District in Gikongoro Province, where CARE Rwanda is assisting 68 SLAs (with sl
members) provides the only data on the proportions of CLASSE SLA members according to the various
Poverty Assessment poverty categories. Data for Nshile CLASSE SLA members and Banque Populaire
obtained by CARE during a survey in 2005. According to Table 1.3. (national poverty statistics), 70% o
Gikongoro are extreme poor, and another 5% live below the national poverty line. If the assumption c
the PPA poverty ranking data could be superimposed on the data of the national poverty survey, then
PPA categories (the abject poor, very poor and poor, who make up 58% of Gikongoro’s population) as
approximately 1/3 of the next category (12% is approx. 1/3 of the 33% resourceful poor) would belong
poor as defined by the national poverty survey. In other words, at least 26% of the CLASSE SLA memb
(which might not be representative for all of Gikongoro Province) are extreme poor, whereas it is impo
determine what proportion of the remaining 74% are extreme poor or poor. Note that the CLASSE pro
significantly poorer than clients of the Banque Populaire in Nshile District.
Without attempting to relate the relative poverty categories of the PPA to the absolute national pover
based on PPA poverty categories looks as follows:
1) 9% of CLASSE members in Nshile district belong to the Umutindi or ‘very poor’. This group is physic
working on land owned by others, although they themselves have either no land or very small landho
livestock.
2) 17% of CLASSE members in Nshile district belong to the Umukene or ‘poor’. These households have
housing. They live on their own labor and produce, and though they have no savings, they can eat, ev
very nutritious. However they do not have a surplus to sell in the market, their children do not always
they often have no access to health care.
3) The majority (74%) of CLASSE members in Nshile district belong to the Umukene wifashije or the ‘r
This group shares many of the characteristics of the Umukene but, in addition, they have small rumin
children go to primary school.
N/A
The following data are obtained from external evaluation by Jeffrey Ashe in 2001. This report distingu
poor (45%), the emerging poor (35%) and the better-off (20%) reached by WEP.
A partnership with FINCA International using their FCAT in July 2007, FBG was able to sample 433 of F
Clients were sampled in all 5 of FBG’s branch offices (Lake Atitlan region, Chimaltenango, Quiche, Ne
region). The results are shown below.

Gathering information about poverty using indicators

The facts collected about poverty were collected by FINCA International in a time span of 5 weeks dur
June and July 2007. The FINCA International consultants used the Client Assessment Tool or FCAT, a st
and USAID approved tool, to interview 433 clients. This equates to 3.5% of FBG’s clients

Education, literacy, health, housing infrastructure, alimentary security and vulnerability were the six s
measurements used by FINCA International to analyze FBG’s clients the poverty level.

The survey uses qualitative and quantitative indicators. For instance education and literacy are measu
of years the family members have been enrolled in school and in until what grade they studied. Healt
different ways, for instance: if any member of the family has gotten sick in the past 30 years, if the fa
medical attention and where, if the mothers received prenatal medical services during their last pregn
clients have social security. Questions regarding the housing infrastructure analyzed the materials us
The HQM study took place in July 2003. Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez worked with local research firm CEDR
Center of the University of Ouagadougou) and received logistical support from RCPB and CIF. Twelve
supervisors, and three data-entry teams a local team of surveyors. The surveyors were selected for h
Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, fluency in local languages, and were trained on the survey's con
They participated in tool adaptation and refinement. The surveyors administered each of the two too
330 respondents, 210 of which were CEE clients and 110 non-CEE clients. The study area, chosen in c
RCPB, surrounded Ouagadougou and included rural villages, which is representative of the various loc
operates (69% of respondents reside in rural areas; 31% reside in peri-urban and urban areas). Credi
randomly selected in the area, and 8 to 10 clients were randomly selected in each of these Credit Ass
result, they were representative of RCPB's overall CEE clientele. If anything, their relative proximity t
with more developed infrastructure and markets would suggest that they might be less poor than RCP
clientele. 4 to 5 individuals were then selected in the Credit Association's vicinity. These individuals w
not be participants in any microfinance program, and were sought out to be poorer or better-off than
on their income-generating activities (for the purposes of testing the sensitivity of the tools at various
The CEE clients surveyed had been in the program on average for 4.4 years. Non-clients were survey
wider range of poverty levels in an effort to assist the correlation work. Food security data results: Thr
clients in the sample were food-insecure. The breakdown of the food-insecure group according to the
point indicates that over half of the clients in the sample were severely food-insecure. The difference
levels between incoming clients and more "veteran" clients was not statistically significant. The mean
day per capita for clients was 397 CFA (US$ 2.32) with a standard deviation of 666 CFA. When clients
disaggregated by rural and urban dimensions, there was a striking difference in the mean expenditure
between rural clients (mean: 298 CFA - US$ 1.74) and urban clients (mean: 620 CFA - US$ 3.63). One
in the sample were under the dollar-a-day line, while 70% were under two-dollars-a-day, indicating th
the clients were located between the dollar-a-day and two-dollars-a-day poverty lines. Less than half
under the nationally-defined poverty line. The higher poverty incidence among rural clients than amo
was statistically significant for all three poverty lines. The food-security and consumption data give qu
interpretations of the level of poverty of CEE clients in this sample. This is perhaps unsurprising, sinc
of different dimensions and calculations of poverty. The reader may decide which dimension (and me
dimension) better represents the true experience of poverty in Burkina Faso. The rural / urban compa
at a minimum that RCPB is effectively reaching out to poorer clients to focusing its CEE service into ru
N/A
In 2004, a cross sectional study was conducted by Hishigsuren (2004) to assess the changes in the po
ASA during the rapid scaling up. The study used a mixed method consisting of surveys with 420 curre
clients, 18 focus group discussions with 216 current and former clients, interviews with 3 front-line sta
members, 3 representatives of funding agencies and two groups of management staff (20 in total). / A
computed in each dimension to find out whether there is any drift considering the direction of change
the first domain called Depth of Outreach determine whether ASA has moved up the market and start
off people after the scaling up. The indicators in the second domain, Quality of Outreach, measure wh
any change in the quality of service and the level of members’ satisfaction with the services of ASA. In
third domain, Scope of Outreach, measure if there is any change in the number and type of services o
to scaling up. Then, an average percent change is computed based on the percent changes of each in
After computing the average percent change at an organizational level, individual percent changes ar
three branches selected for the study to represent rural, semi-urban and urban branches of ASA. This
reveal whether there is any mission drift due to the branch characteristics – whether urban branches
mission drift than rural branches, or vice versa.
LEEP has not had an independent impact assessment. This exercise is seen to be more instructive aft
passes the five-year benchmark. Five years is selected because by that time the first participants sho
raised APL. Data will allow for analysis of the performance across the various priority activities.

The specific objective of the social indicators study was to measure PMP's social impact on our clients
identified five indicators to measure areas where we have the greatest impact rather than focusing on
expanding the poverty data. However, in the 2007 study we are considering expanding or having broa
about the poverty data, based on indicators that the National Statistics Institute considers or measure
not yet have this information. The Social Impact Indicators study is developed by the Services Manage
internal personnel. The first study was carried out in 2005 and the second one is currently being unde
social impact indicators study is based on a population of clients that was current in 2005 when Pro M
regional offices, in Puno and Tacna, and a total population of 24,134 clients as of July 2005, where 9,6
Tacna and 14,470 to Puno. For the study, a sample was taken of 305 new clients and 538 longstandin
Mujer Peru. The sample was representative considering that it was applied based on a formula with a
error.
The program primarily pays attention to sales from embroidery work. In general, buyers provide inpu
are the profits. The program does not have a baseline sales figure. The baseline for most embroidere
close to 0, with many operating at a loss. During market research, the program documented the aver
of several very active embroiderers, and this forms as a baseline for more active embroiderers. Sales
number of embroiderers is reported by sales agents to the program. They have little incentive to repo
incorrectly. The overall sales data is divided by the number of embroiderers selling to get an average
the over 9,000 embroiderers reached are "active" at this point, and the second sales figure reflects sa
active producers. Figures are gathered in Pakistani Rupees and converted at the exchange rate at th
report. Sales data is collected from all sales agents and, thus, all clients. Empowerment data is gathe
120 of the 9,330 clients from all 3 regions. Baseline annual sales for least active embroiderers: 0 or op
Current program average annual sales from embroidery, all clients: $148. Baseline average annual sa
embroiderers: $72 . Current average annual income for active embroiderers: $260. An "active" embro
who embroiderers for over four hours per day.
N/A

N/A
 4.2.3. Poverty Data obtained
through use of USAID certified
poverty tool
N/A

N/A
N/A

N/A
N/A

N/A
ASA participated in the practicality
testing of USAID poverty
assessment tool. However,
because it was a practicality
testing, ASA was told that the
findings cannot be used to report
the poverty level of its clients.
No study using a USAID certified
poverty tool has been completed.

N/A

N/A
N/A

N/A
 Case Study
CARE Rwanda

Trickle Up Mali

PACT Nepal
Friendship Bridge
Guatemala
FFH/RCPB Burkina
Faso

Save/Nirdhan
Nepal

ASA India

CCF India
Pro Mujer Peru
MEDA Pakistan
ABA Egypt

Kenya BDS
 4.3.1. Does the organization use a poverty targeting tool?
Geographic targeting: poorest districts within selected Provinces; most
vulnerable sectors within the selected districts; most vulnerable cellules within
the selected sectors.
Within geographic target area, typically already existing associations are
targeted, especially if they are excluded from the formal financial system (which
is almost always the case).
Furthermore, associations are targeted based on criteria pertaining to poverty of
their members:
households with less than 0.5 hectares of land
 Isolation and/or self exclusion
 Difficulty to afford school fees and medical costs
 Limited social capital
 Small land (> 0.5 ha)
 No livestock
 No access to credit.
Some programs specifically target widows and female-headed households;
people living with HIV/AIDS; orphans and other vulnerable children (OVCs).
Since for the most part existing associations are targeted, some of the most
vulnerable people might not be reached, however, as they are more likely to be
excluded by these groups and/or might exclude themselves.

Geographic targeting is the first step. Trickle Up has programs only in the
poorest regions of Mali: Timbuktu, Gao and Mopti. Within those regions, very
poor people are in the majority, and Trickle Up works selects suitable partner
agencies with a mission that is compatible with Trickle Up (especially in terms of
reaching the very poor) and with sufficient organizational capacity. Excessive
costs or lack of suitable local NGOs are sometimes an obstacle to reach the very
poor in the most remote areas within those the abovementioned three regions.
TU partner agencies use a participant selection tool, which focuses of three
areas: poverty, commitment/motivation, entrepreneurial ability

N/A
FBG uses primarily geographic targeting tools as well as tapping into their local
network of field staff to identify extreme poor clients. The geographic targeting
uses rural, indigenous and poverty maps to identify strategic areas for FBG
outreach.
RCPB relies on geographic and gender targeting, and uses a product whose
entry conditions and features are appropriate and attractive to very poor clients.
During community promotion events, the animatrice encourages wide
participation, and explains that the service is designed for poor women. The
animatrice is trained to focus on women who have income-generating activities,
but lack the financial resources to grow them. She also informally assesses the
women's living conditions, and the health of their children.
Nirdhan's poverty targeting tools are described above in the sections 2.2.2.3 on
client selection and eligibility and 2.2.2.4 on poverty assessment. Clients are
categorized by relative poverty levels based on how much land they own.
The above mentioned Housing Index is used as the targeting tool. In addition,
geographical targeting and Participatory Wealth Ranking is used to identify
target communities. Also, ASA's products and services are tailored towards very
poor women, hence they serve as an indirect targeting.

There are several levels of poverty targeting, beginning with the district
targeting analysis done for the country strategy and determines the districts
where CCF-India works. Then within the districts vulnerable communities are
identified based upon the NGO partner analysis of need. Finally, the PWR tool is
used to identify the poorest families in the community for enrollment.
Pro Mujer Peru has not developed a specific or special tool to evaluate poverty
as we take into account the parameters established by the INEI . However, it is
important to mention that based on the institutional mission of reaching all poor
women by providing them with access to loans and training, Pro Mujer Peru aims
to take its services to rural populations, since rural areas display the highest
poverty levels. For this reason, we are developing a loan product that takes into
account the economic dynamic of this part of the country. This service will also
be integral, which is to say it will include training and human development
services. As a result, with this new product and new intervention strategy we will
be reaching the very poor.
No
No poverty assessment tool is used. The targeting for any of the products is
done through a geographical targeting. For Blossoms, for example, the
coordinator as well as the branch manager, live in the same area where they
work and they know the areas where eligible population is settled. There is no
quantitative level of poverty assessment. The group lending methodology as
well as the low amount of credit granted and the gender are supposed to help
also targeting the poor population. For TSEP, the targeting is done through the
partner charity associations on a geographical and activity basis. The targeted
population is the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of the population
particularly women and unemployed young people. In practice, 95 per cent of
the recipients are women. As already mentioned, the TSEP team applies a
threshold of 100 EGP per family household and per month. Combined with other
indicators such as the amounts of bills that the household is able to pay, the
income estimate helps to roughly evaluate the poverty situation of the
household.

See section 1.2.4.2, which discussed the program's targeting strategy and how
poverty was taken into account.
 4.3.2. What is the client poverty target
level?
Geographic targeting: poorest districts within
selected Provinces; most vulnerable sectors within
the selected districts; most vulnerable cellules
within the selected sectors.
Within geographic target area, typically already
existing associations are targeted, especially if
they are excluded from the formal financial
system (which is almost always the case).
Furthermore, associations are targeted based on
criteria pertaining to poverty of their members:
households with less than 0.5 hectares of land,
widows and female-headed households; people
living with HIV/AIDS; orphans and other vulnerable
children (OVCs).
Since for the most part existing associations are
targeted, some of the most vulnerable people
might not be reached, however, as they are more
likely to be excluded by these groups and/or
might exclude themselves.

In order to be eligible for the program, a minimum

score of 8 is required.

N/A
FBG has a target level of 100% of incoming clients
live below the poverty line and at least 30% live in
extreme poverty.
N/A

N/A

As explained above, those who are given Housing

index score of below 4 are defined as the Poorest.

The effective cut-off line is the government’s BPL

list. The objective of LEEP is to move families
from BPL to APL or Rs. 24000.
N/A
Program leaders estimate that the level is 2 of 5 -
with 5 being wealthy, 1 being destitute. Critical to
program success is the fact that clients have a
marketable skill.
The Blossom operation manual, which serves as a
basis for training coordinators,that to be eligible
for a group loan "Women head of households with
limited income sources. Priority to be given to
divorced, widows and the ones that are taking
care of an invalid husband". The poverty level is
not formally defined by a cut-off level of income
for example. For TSEP, for which an operations
manual does not exist, the cut-off is "an
insufficient income" which is evaluated according
to the observations and experience of ABA's
agents. They rely on the declaration and the
papers provided by the beneficiary. For exemple,
phone and electricity bills give an idea about the
level of consumption and the payment capacity,
which helps deduce a level of income. Finally
coordinators assess the area in which the
beneficiary lives, as well as house conditions. The
experience of the audit team made them set up
an indicative cut-off of 100 EGP (17$US) per
month per household member. This is not
formalized and not followed by everyone.

N/A
 4.3.3. Staff use of poverty targeting
Probably the most important incentive for BP
credit officers in serving very poor clients is the
existence of the Intergroupments. The
Intergroupments are trained to review credit
applications from their SLA members before they
are submitted to a Bank’s loan officer. This
significantly reduces the work and risk taken on
by loan officers. Moreover, loans to SLAs are
guaranteed by funds provided to the Banks by
CARE.
Repayment rates have been consistently high and
have helped the Bank gain confidence in lending
to SLAs and use its own funds in addition to CARE
guarantee loan funds.

Partner NGO field staff have been trained in using

the participant selection tool, and understand
about the importance of reaching the very poor to
the mission of Trickle Up. If local partner NGOs do
not already have a strong focus on the most
vulnerable community members, the Trickle Up
program and support enables organizations to do
so. There are no explicit staff incentive schemes
to reach the very poor.
Reaching the very poor is a commitment by local
partner NGOs, which is also formally addressed in
the agreement between each partner NGO and
Trickle Up.

N/A
Staff is trained in identifying geographic areas and
is also hired based on their level of commitment
to serving the poor. There is also a commitment
within FBG to have at 25% of field staff that are
former clients of FBG. This increases the
sensitivity to serving the poorest and allows for
greater internal resources in identifying the
poorest.
Animatrice training includes practicing community
promotion activities. RCPB does not currently use
an incentive system. Animatrice performance is
evaluated according to total outreach, interest
revenue generation and delivery of education
sessions. Evaluations do not specifically address
poverty outreach.
N/A

See Section 2.2.2.7 and 2.2.2.8

Participatory wealth ranking staff training of field

staff is done by NGO partner. CCF-India initially
trains the NGO project team leaders so there is
consistent application of the tool among partners.
Pro Mujer Peru personnel, from the management
to the board of directors, identify with the
institutional mission and take our products and
services to the very poor. All new personnel are
provided with specific training on this issue. They
are aware of our mission and who we work with
from the day one. This information is imparted
through videos, client testimonies and work in
teams in order to contribute to improving the lives
of many women. We show them our greatest
rewards, which are the grateful smiles of the
women, mothers and entrepreneurs. During the
organziation's annual anniversary celebration, a
motivational video is developed which includes
testimonies from our clients, the perspectives and
appreciation of the local and international boards
of directors and of the media which has identified
Pro Mujer Peru as a leading institution that is
changing the lives of poor women in Peru in a
positive manner through differentiated, integral
and efficient services, promoting values like
solidarity, responsibility and the ability to
overcome. Given that Pro Mujer Peru understands
that economics are neither the sole cause of
poverty nor the only way to leave it behind, the
organization provides integral services, training
and access to health services. As a result, the
branches respond to goals not only regarding
loans but also regarding the personal
development services. These indicators include
the number of clients with motivational sessions
on issues of personal development, the number of
clients with a health plan, the number of clients
served by healthcare services, the number of
families served by healthcare services, the
number of children served by healthcare services,
the number of people served overall, and the
number of clients who access occupational and
technical courses. These goals are registered and
reported together with portfolio and client goals
and form part of the performance evaluation of
each branch, and thus the evalution of the
operating staff.
How is staff trained in poverty targeting? This is
done informally through inspirational program
leaders. ECDI hired new staff to work directly with
the poor, while existing staff worked more with
urban sales agents and more sophisticated
businesses in the chain.
Staffs receive training before starting in ABA,
through one week sessions, followed by one week
in the field and then 2 months of work on the field
monitored by senior officer. There is no training
per se on poverty targeting. For the coordinators
in charge of the poor population through group
loan products, the training is much more oriented
to the operational aspects. The training does not
include board of Directors members, as they are
not participating by any means in day to day
management. It is also expected that they don't
have time or these activities. Sensitisation
sessions should be organised for them mainly
memers of Zakat Committee, mother committee
of the project. This may help board members
understand the difficulties of transforming ideas
into actions on the ground. It may give them a
better sense of what is happening and they can be
of a better advice for the operational audit team.
Training for the NGOs is also missing and could
help ABA-SME transmit on a formalized way the
right information to the beneficiaries through the
NGO. There is no incentive scheme for poverty
outreach. The most important reward for some of
the staff is the good they are doing. In the
meantime, most of them point out their small pay.
It may be another explanation to the small
number of TSEP beneficiaries. The easiest way to
set up incentives is by number of grants awarded.
It is found by ABA-SME management to be
dangerous as it might encourage the team to give
away grants to not needy people in order to reach
the set up performance level. To be efficient,
incentives should be in a set, both quantitative
(number of grants) and qualitative (level of
poverty). The loan officers for group loans
products are rewarded according to their portfolio
at risk and the number of active clients. On
average, their pay is based on 50% incentives.

Field Extension Officers are paid based on their

performance in terms of the number of tons of fish
they collect from the women.
 4.3.4. Issues with poverty targeting
N/A

Often demand for participating in Trickle Up's

microenterprise program is much higher than available
resources, which is one of the reasons that other selection
criteria (motivation, entrepreneurial ability) are used in
addition to poverty criteria. Poverty selection criteria might
be more or less relevant depending of the poverty level of
the target area. In relatively well-off areas, selected
participants might be better off than those selected
according to the same criteria in a very poor area. Until now
Trickle Up has not been able to test the accuracy of the
poverty selection tool. Planned poverty assessment by using
a recently developed poverty scorecard for Mali will allow for
comparing poverty levels among different partner NGOs and
target areas.
N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A

One of the main challenges with Housing Index as the

poverty targeting tool is that it does not work the same way
in urban areas as it does in rural areas. Also, the housing
conditions are changing as the government provides free
housing to the poor (which are in relatively good condition).
ASA is looking at other cost effective and reliable poverty
targeting tools that can be adapted to the context of ASA
The objectivity and reliability of the BPL government list,
used as the initial screening tool to determine family
eligibility, has been questioned. The NGOs have found
cases where those know to be poor in a community are not
on the list, and vice versa. These obvious cases of
misclassification bring the selection process into doubt. To
compensate, the NGO partners do not use the BPL list alone,
but combine that information with the PWR results when
selecting families.
N/A
From the researcher's perspective, the M&E tool has several
issues: It is not a poverty targeting tool and does not report
comparable, statistical poverty levels.
The data is gathered, but not fully analyzed. This is partly
due to lack of resources, but also because program
management is more motivated by and focused on
empowerment information, rather than statistics. Statistics
are produced for the donor, and are of limited quality
anyway due to the circumstances of the clients and the
limitations of available tools.
There is no baseline data collection, and no national
statistics are provided for comparison, so it is difficult to
compare the results with other programs in other contexts.
Having said this, there are no easy answers to most of these
challenges. Targeted households are very socially closed
and secretive, particularly at the beginning of the program
and at the beginning of their interaction with the program.
The women themselves could not report their household
incomes, although they probably could report consumption
patterns. However, this type of survey requires more skill
and time than the program ahs at present. Additional
resources would at least facilitate better processing of
existing data.
N/A

N/A
 Case Study
CARE Rwanda

Trickle Up Mali

PACT Nepal

Friendship Bridge
Guatemala
FFH/RCPB Burkina
Faso
Save/Nirdhan
Nepal
ASA India
CCF India
Pro Mujer Peru

MEDA Pakistan
ABA Egypt
Kenya BDS
 5.3.6. Empowerment and Confidence Building
Savings and Loan Associations are designed to build the confidence of members, by encouraging
them to save, take small loans to start or expand new income activities, and collectively reach
certain savings goals (such as purchase of a goat for each member, etc.). In addition, SLAs open a
bank account and learn about bank procedures, while many also manage to receive a bank loan.
SLA members set their own rules, including weekly savings amount and internal interest rate for
loans from the group fund.

A major element of the BDSFs is confidence-building and empowerment for group members. Though
clients are not involved in product and service design at the TU Mali-level, they take ownership of
their BDSFs through leadership positions on committees, group decision-making and creation of their
group's by-laws. Those who are selected as BDSF representatives and participate in regional and
sub-regional meetings build further confidence through those meetings. Anecdotal evidence
suggests that clients do have more negotiating power in business transactions, especially when
making group investments.
As the name of the program implies, women’s empowerment is the overall objective underlying the
three components of the WEP approach: literacy training, legal rights awareness and advocacy, and
increased access to economic opportunities. Improved literacy increases self-worth and opens up
new opportunities. Women are not given any handouts; they engage in an appreciative inquiry
process, facilitated by empowerment workers, to take control of their lives by saving and increasing
their incomes. They do not depend on an outside institution for these services, and set their own
rules for savings and credit. Women are also encouraged to discuss their circumstances and to take
collective action to make positive changes.
Women’s empowerment in WEP is not a hollow claim based on access to credit for women, but is at
the core of the project’s design. Training manuals focus on empowerment, and empowerment
workers are trained in empowerment exercises, such as confidence building, understanding
empowerment, forming a sisterhood, making decisions, initiating collective action, eliminating
violence against women… Access to savings and loans is only one part of empowerment.
FBG trust banks are set up so that there is a board of directors elected for each loan group. This
board is responsible for starting the meeting and collecting all repayments. Loan officers are not
allowed to touch the money. The board counts the money in front of the group and makes the
deposit into the bank. The group as a whole has several committees that are designed to help with
various decisions that the group as a whole need to make, i.e. where to meet, should they charge a
late fee on those arriving late to the meeting, how to collect on late payments. This is designed to
empower the group. Many of the educational trainings require the women to speak in front of their
loan group encouraging women to find their voice and confidence in speaking in front of a group.
Clients are also asked to pick a representative to represent their group in the annual assembly of
borrowers. There are plans to start a council of advisors at a national level in Guatemala that would
include at least two borrowers. All payments are made into a bank. For many clients this is the first
time they go into a formal financial institution. This can be very intimidating for a client that may
not read or write.
The Self-Esteem module developed by Freedom from Hunger (see Table 5.3.3) contains eight
learning sessions designed to help participants value and use their differences and skills, and
develop the confidence to set and achieve goals. One session specifically addresses domestic
violence. RCPB received this module in 2007 and will add it to its portfolio of modules. In addition to
this particular module, specific features in the product design put clients in situations that are likely
to increase their confidence and transfer to other areas of their lives: Group members elect the
group officers, and some serve as group officers, Group members collectively manage the group's
affairs (e.g. bookkeeping, meetings, conflict resolution), Group members voice opinions and think
critically in a safe environment while participating in learning sessions. Finally, the clients' increased
income and knowledge are expected to translate into greater status and influence in their
households, among their peers and in the community.
N/A
The following type of activities help to build the confidence of clients: Business Development
Services, CC meetings, Cluster leader meetings and Right based programs, Education, Training on
non - party local elections, International Women's Day celebration helps client to build confidence.
Credit products and credit plus activities of ASA Grama Vidiyal build confidence of clients. A detailed
research analysis is conducted for product designing. The newly launched Business Loan product
was introduced after conducting Primary research and receiving consultative support from
professionals and researchers. Some key parameters for designing the Business loan product were
members' businesses, income level requirements and present and proposed cash flows. Members
negotiate with Business Loan officers to secure a loan, then prepare business plans to show how the
loan would be utilized. This is done in order to explain how the loan would increase the cash flow,
savings volumes and repayment capacity of the client. ASA regularly conducts meetings for
members and leaders for training and development programs. During these sessions one of the key
agenda is to collect feed back on products, satisfactory levels, and suggestions on products, services
and other operational policies. All branches and sampled centers are given In-land letters ad
postcards that are addressed directly to the CMD for sharing their views, comments, concerns and
feedback. ASA also has grievances call attendant at the HO to serve members and staff issues and
queries. In terms clients' negotiating power in financial and business transactions, when ASA did
impact study, research study on micro enterprise, etc, it was observed that around 20% of the total
members (around 200,000) are doing the business on their own, that is the women members
themselves who conduct the business. Around 40% of the total women members are taking loan and
giving it to their husbands for their business that is the husbands alone does the business.
Remaining 40% of the women families are doing joint business, both husbands and wives are jointly
does the business. In many families around 40-50% the women members take decision or in other
words the women involve in decisions such as education of the girl child, income and expenses
management of the family, cash-flow of the businesses, because the women takes loan and give it to
the family. In terms of challenges, women members still face challenges related to business
development: lack of mobility for marketing the product, marketing at large markets such as
national level, international level, branding, labelling, etc. The quality expectations and quality
control mechanisms are very much challenging for these kind of microentreprises. Impact on LPG -
Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization policies very much affect the micro enterprises what
the poor are doing. Meeting credit demand of the member community by ASA-GV kind of MFIs would
be the challenge for them. The present products offered by MFIs may not be enough for meeting
their different (credit, others) needs of the members such as housing, businesses, education, assets,
others, etc. Government policies are not very much favourable to the poor and agriculture sector in
India, which leads to poor becomes poor richer becomes richer.
Building the confidence of LEEP clients, who are typically poor women, is part of the complete
package. TA plays an important role in giving inexperienced women the confidence that they can
handle an initial loan as high as $1,250. Many are intimated by this size, and doubt their ability to
successfully manage it. Taking the loan is a big risk, and intense technical support is key to showing
them how they can earn the revenue to repay the loan. Clients go into the loan empowered with
information, and it is important that they do not feel alone after the loan is given

LEEP only gives loans for a limited number of priority activities, and CCF-India takes the
responsibility for doing the analysis that confirms a priority economic activity can be profitable. This
responsibility includes a commitment to provide necessary technical assistance and identification of
markets that will deliver the targeted level of income. LEEP clients are subsequently limited to doing
the priority enterprise that the NGO in her area has elected, based on a careful analysis of the
market. The NGO can suggest priority areas, but CCF ultimately determines if it is viable. Clients
are not involved in program design. They are offered the opportunity to do a specific activity, which
CCF-India has determined can generate the target income. The focus is on the income to be earned,
not necessarily the preference of the client. It is important to note that an additional criteria of the
priority area is that is something that the typical poor women could engage in, i.e. builds upon
traditional activities and/or incorporates easily learned skills. Where clients do have a voice is when
problem areas are identified, and the promised results are not forthcoming. In this case, CCF would
look at the quality of the TA (technical advisors have been fired for poor performance), and if
necessary the selection of the priority area.
The LEEP approach is market led, and there is on-going effort to seek out new activities which have
large market potential (i.e. could be done by a large number of families) and are also technically
feasible. It is most often the case that the markets for priority activities is outside of the NGO’s
program area, and LEEP producers are not familiar with. Most recently Small Orchard (Lemon +
Drum stick + Cucumber) was introduced as a new activity and LEEP built its in-house technical
capacity for this activity. The economic environment is not static, and LEEP must constantly
monitor its portfolio of priority activities. If an existing priority activity does not produce desired
results, clients will be shifted.

The implication of this market let approach is that activities are promoted that 1) have a viable
market and 2) that LEEP has the capacity to provide extensive technical support. This approach is
followed understanding that some families who do not have that specific interest may be excluded.
Ultimately, the decision to do a few things very well is justified by the desire to assure success and a
guaranteed level income.

In summary, LEEP priority activities are selected based on:

• Assessment of market for products
• Ability of activity to be undertaken by large number of people
• Availability of technical experts – possibly in large numbers

LEEP is designed to give clients negotiating power. For example, clients are trained to understand
milk quality testing and measuring procedures. They come to the milk collection centre empowered
to protest if they feel they are being cheated. The producers are trained in the testing procedures,
and know if they are told they have 1.6% fat content, but in reality they have 1.7%. Since they are
all selling the same product, the size of the producer volume also gives the group a negotiating
power that they would not have as individuals. In many cases, the guarantee of a higher volume of
product of predictable quality can be used to negotiate a higher price. Because diary producers are
part of the national grid, the market they face is national.

Another aspect of empowerment is helping villages work collectively to voice concerns and demand
services from the government. One example sited by SHGs interviewed during the preparation of
the case study was complaints of health works not visiting the villages as intended, but sitting at the
clinic. As a result of collective action, the government enforced village visitation schedules.

Which challenges remain?

While progress has been made in marketing, there is still much work to be done. Regardless of the
N/A

The program does not specifically discuss or confront women's lack of power or autonomy. Rather,
the program activities result in empowerment and increased mobility. And, this was intentional.
Gender relations are constrained to the point that direct confrontation can be dangerous and
unproductive. Clients were interviewed during the market research phase, and a sample is regularly
interviewed by independent program staff (independent of sales agents). At the final stages of the
program design, managers held workshops with businesses in the value chain, including
embroiderers. However, clients have not been directly involved in program decisions. Sales agents,
however, have formed an association and have been more directive about next steps in the
program. Clients have more negotiating power than before when they were dependant on male
relatives. In addition, the program works to provide clients with a choice of sales agents and
cultivates a social enterprise approach to business to help clients have more power in the market. In
less viable and accessible areas, it is harder to provide clients with many choices, and society is
more hierarchical, so women are more vulnerable in these situations.
Meeting of friends, whenever applicable is a good channel to build knowledge, human capital,
network and confidence of poor women. The use of these groups of groups as a platform to get new
ideas and impressions from the clients can be also a way to empower them. Unfortunately, clients
are not directly involved in decision making related to products and service design. But their
requirements are taken into consideration whenever they seem in line with the management
possibilities. For example, the amounts of the grants were reevaluated to adjust to the increase in
cost of living and so was the size of the first group loan.
In discussing what they like most about the program, the women highlight the financial
independence it allows. Many of the women report that selling to Promisdor has enabled them to
pay school fees on time and to eat well. Importantly they also noted that they no longer have to
depend on others for their upkeep as they now can fend for themselves. Many of the women noted
that they are finding ways to free themselves of the practice of Jaboya, or special friendship in which
they have to grant sexual favors to fishermen or traders to buy fish and access capital. One group of
women intends to use the 36,000 KESs they have saved to purchase their own boat, so that they are
completely free of this practice. The women also note that they appreciate the unity the program
has established among them and their increased financial knowledge. Relationships with Promisdor
and its agents are still developing. Most of the women have visited Promisdor's facilities and interact
regularly with the company's agents. However, when it comes to negotiating the terms of future
contracts or to expressing concerns, the women still rely heavily on Kenya BDS. This is likely a
reflection of the nascent status of the women's groups and that they are still in the process of
professionalizing their operations and their outlook. The women are currently are not organized in
such a way that they can speak as one voice in negotiations with the firm. This may never be
practical within the Kenya BDS program timeline and currently there is no plan to help the women's
groups to come together in a larger federated structure. In the second year of the program, Kenya
BDS will be working to further strengthen the direct relationships between the individual women's
groups and Promisdor and its agents, as well as strengthening the capacity of the firm to more
actively manage these relationships. The intent is to develop strong lines of communication and
trust between the women and Promisdor and its agents. This should also strengthen the women's
ability to give feedback to the firm as needed.
 5.3.7. Graduation of very poor clients into
mainstream MF/MED services
SLA training takes usually 8 months, after which
an SLA graduates. Each SLA opens a bank
account with a local Banque Populaire, and once
graduated, SLAs manage their own activities and
money. At that time, SLAs are also able to apply
for a bank loan if they can produce a sound
business plan and loan application. Not every SLA
desires or is capable to apply for a bank loan. In
addition to the SLA itself, many of its members
also open individual accounts with the BP.

TU is currently exploring a pilot "bridging" pilot

with the IFC and ICCO/Terrafina. It would link the
oldest entrepreneurs with MFIs. Next step is a
project design phase.

Graduating to mainstream (institutional)

microfinance is not part of WEP’s design.
However, two of the biggest local partners of PACT
in Nepal were Grameen-replication MFIs. Their
solidarity groups, trained by WEP, were obviously
linked to a formal microfinance institution. But
that was a peculiarity and not intended as a model
for the expansion of WEP.

N/A
An initial expectation when Credit with Education
was introduced to RCPB was that after
participating in CEE for a number of cycles,
women would "graduate" to individual
membership at the cooperative, and avail RCPB's
"mainstream" products. It became apparent after
a number of years that despite participation in
CEE, women still faced obstacles such as
additional documentation and fees to become
individual members, a high up-front savings
requirement to access credit, as well as the
physical distance from RCPB points of service. To
respond to these concerns, as well as address the
divergent loan size needs of group members that
were both straining the solidarity guarantee
mechanism and loan size ceiling of CEE, RCPB
developed a "transition" product called ACI
(Association de Crédit Intermédiaire), designed for
existing CEE clients. ACI is a "solidarity group"
product with an average of 6.5 members. ACI
groups are born from mature CEE groups and
typically enjoy larger loan amounts (ACI loans can
begin at 75,000 CFA, or US$408), longer loan
cycles (up to 10 months) and less frequent
meetings and repayments (monthly), while the
education sessions provided focus more often on
microenterprise management. There are
currently 416 ACI groups, compared with 3,416
CEE groups, which indicates that many client
needs are met in the CEE groups. RCPB has also
introduced another solidarity group product that
grew out of the original CEE product, targeting
new female clients in urban areas: Crédit Féminin
en Milieu Urbain (CFMU). CFMU groups have on
average 3.8 members, and also have larger loan
amounts, longer loan cycles and less frequent
meetings and repayments. There are currently
372 CFMU groups. Both the ACI and CFMU
products are implemented by the same
animatrices who also offer CEE, based on their
area of operation, rather than on product
specialization. There is no systematic tracking,
and only anecdotal evidence, of clients graduating
from any of these three group products (CEE; ACI;
CFMU) to becoming individual members in the
cooperative. There is some evidence from this
program as well as other Credit with Education
programs that some "graduates" who become
individual members at the cooperative choose to
still participate in group activities to meet with
their peers, receive education sessions, and take
out loans if they find them more advantageous
than individual loans. Recently Freedom from
Hunger worked with RCPB to understand clients'
attitudes and behaviors toward becoming
individual members, and developed curriculum
aimed at better explaining, promoting and
increasing individual membership among group
N/A
The business loan product is specially designed for
matured clients. The business loan is offered for
the members who have matured with the
institution for more than 2 years. The initial loan
size for regular members ranges from 5000 to
15000 INR. However, the loan size for matured
clients, those with the greatest potential to be
successful entrepreneurs ranges from 20000 to
50000 INR. Since the loan amounts are high, the
weekly installments are also high to repay. So the
term of the business loan is set to 2 years. The
business loan is not disbursed as a group loan and
it is an individual loan product. In this product the
member gives their bank account details for a
credit check and gives two guarantors as security.
Out of 200,000 members, ASA has disbursed
around 5000 business loans (disbursed with in the
period of six months).Business loan was launched
in February 2007.
With an average of 3 years in a community, LEEP
is at an early stage in microfinance. Clients are
still closely linked to child sponsorship activities,
and will continue to benefit during the 12 year life
cycle of an NGO in a community. A few clients will
generate an annual income of Rs. 24000 (placing
them above the poverty line) by the end of the
first loan cycle. Typically, it takes 3 to 5 loans for
a family to be firmly above the poverty line, and
not subject to vulnerability. Within the next year,
LEEP will have an MIS operational that generates
income data. The problem now is that the data is
at the partner NGO level, and is not consolidated.

LEEP’s perspective on graduation is that the very

poor are already in the NGO’s pool of participants,
and LEEP commits to getting them above the
poverty line. LEEP is designed for and its success
is judged by that accomplishment. Once a client
is APL, the need for TA will diminish, and she will
be able to continue to access loans through her
SHG. An important role for LEEP-India will be to
link SHGs to external sources of capital.
Pro Mujer does not have a specific graduation plan
nor does it establish limits or a specific timeframe
for clients to graduate, as we consider this
graduation to be differentiated, individual and
natural. As clients improve their socio-economic
conditions, the loan demands for their businesses
increase. Based on this, Pro Mujer Peru offers
other loans for clients so that this differentiation is
not forced, but instead real and therefore
sustainable. At the same time Pro Mujer Peru
understands very clearly that if we reach the
population with the highest poverty levels,
changes are not immediate or of great magnitude,
at least not in the majority of our population. As a
result, we have not yet implemented an individual
loan or product independent of the communal
associations.
The "graduation" that the program sees and
promotes is of embroiderers becoming sales
agents and sales agents working with layers of
different community-based sales agents.
ABA-SME does not measure any of the success
indicators besides the number of grants disbursed
and of graduates: cost, timeline and percentage of
graduates remaining in the mainstream activity.
As this activity is on a charity basis either for staff,
top management or ABA's charity committee, they
do not evaluate in monetary aspects, for example,
the time dedicated by the Operational Audit staff
to the TSEP activity (1 weekd per month for each
of the 5 team members) or they do not translate
into monetary terms the cost to move someone
out of the poorest categories. The follow up
timeline is also not stressed. Some of the TSEP
beneficiaries receive a grant (either just one part
or two) and apply for a group loan months later
without any incentive or reminder from the ABA
staff. As soon as a former TSEP beneficiary
receives a loan, even if it is after one year, the MIS
recognizes it and he or she is added to the
number of graduates. This is the only measure of
success used. The reasons of the delay to apply
for a loan are perhaps asked by the loan officer,
but are not reported or documented. There is no a
deliberate effort to shorten the time between the
end of access to TSEP, the graduation and access
to the first loan. The exit rate of graduates from
TSEP to Blossom is not measured per se. Once
they are in a group and get a loan, they are
considered as a part of the mainstream activity
and not as graduates anymore. Most of the time,
even the members of their group do not know or
do not care whether they benefitted from grants.
They consider them as equals. On the one hand it
can be seen as a similar treatment for all clients
whatever their background, on the other hand,
however, tracking the performances of the specific
group graduates group can help the institution
understand more their needs and weaknesses and
address them on a better way. The procedures for
TSEP are not systematized and the program is
considered to be purely charity without a follow up
concern. The graduates are considered as "a
plus". Their graduation does not seem essential
for ABA-SME staff. If they don't graduate, they
would be considered just as charity recipients and
not as a lost entrepreneur or as a cause for fewer
revenues for the MFI. The the Charity Committee
of ABA, which initiated the TSEP idea and remains
its principal backer, seems to stress the
graduation process and the empowerment of the
poor aspect, (which contrasts with the charity
idea). In practice, however, there is some
deconnexion between how the charity committee
wants the programme to be and the way it is done
operationally.
Kenya BDS approach is to not move gradually, but
to assist women to migrate immediately into a
higher value market in which they sell directly to a
commercial exporter. The women receive no
direct subsidies to make this migration, rather
they are shown a good business opportunity and if
they opt in, then Promisdor provides them with
the financing they need upfront to increase and
improve upon the quality of their production.
Within some groups, members have been asked
to leave or have left voluntarily if they are not
meeting their group obligations. The discussion
here of "graduation" does not fit the Kenya BDS
program context. The clients do not graduate
between different levels of assistance or services.
Additionally, a woman opting to no longer engage
in a commercial relationship with Promasidor is
not necessarily an indicator of drop out rates.
Some women may opt to discontinue the
relationship, since they have saved sufficiently to
move into an even higher value level of enterprise
or into another function within the same value
chan.