PAWG Liserve Discussion on Effective Approaches to Reaching the Very Poor

8/7/2019 PAWG Liserve Discussion on Effective Approaches to Reaching the Very Poor

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EFFECTIVE APPROACHES FOR REACHING THE VERY POOR

In 2000, the US Congress passed the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act, which mandated that

half of all USAID microenterprise funds benefit the very poor. This legislation was amended in2003, and now defines the very poor as those living on less than $1 a day, or those living in thebottom 50% below their country's poverty line. The PAWG has been engaged in an effort over thepast two years to develop tools for poverty assessment. This process is well underway.

The PAWG recognizes that the next step will be to identify effective approaches to reaching thevery poor so that organizations who are interested in doing so will have guidance and examples asto how to accomplish this goal if they are not already doing so. We are using the definition of verypoor as the one described above in the legislation.

This listserv discussion is meant to accomplish the following:

1. Stocktaking exercise on current programs that attempt to reach the very poorand themethods they use to do so

2. Identify the most relevant reading materials that are currently out there to create anannotated bibliography for practitioners who are interested in learning more about this topic

3. Identify helpful websites: i.e. CGAP has an excellent poverty outreach page on its website athttp://www.cgap.org/priorities/poverty_outreach.html

4. Begin to identify the common approaches and strategies that are particularly effective inreaching the very poor

To begin the discussion, the compilation of institutions below serves to illustrate the point that thereis no one way of either identifying or targeting the poor. Although some institutions sharesimilarities across programs, the spectrum of institutions is broad, with identification methodologiesranging from self developed assessment tools to geographic and group specific identification.Similarly, institutions vary in the tools used to combat poverty from the standard credit model, tosavings, grant, business training and asset transfer models among others. This chart is by no meanscomplete. I would like for you to add other programs that should be on this chart because they havea PRODUCT and/or an APPROACH that is effective in reaching the very poor. Please also feelfree to comment on the current programs that are in this chart if you know from experience thatone of these programs approaches is not actually effective in reaching the very poor then please letus know. These programs are listed mostly because of literature that has been read about them.
http://www.cgap.org/priorities/poverty_outreach.htmlhttp://www.cgap.org/priorities/poverty_outreach.html


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Name Model TargetGroup

Targeting Methodology/ Approach

Other

Trickle Up Grant/Savings Poorest Use Trickle Up PovertyAssessment Tool inselecting the poorest in

a community via anarray of economic andsocial indicators

InternationalRescueCommittee(IRC)

Grant/Savings Refugees Focuses on thosewhose lives have beenuprooted or affected byviolent conflict andoppression

Offer business skillstraining.

BRAC Grant(TargetingUltra Poor);

Savings/Credit

Vulnerable/non-poor toUltra poor

TUP initiative focuseson women who own noland, have little or no

income and arewidowed or divorced

Asset transfer andsubsistence allowance;employment and

enterprisedevelopment training;social developmentsupport; essentialhealth care support;access to microcreditafter two years

ADRKBurkina Faso

Grant/Credit Farmerswithoutequipment

25% of equipment costhas to be repaid over 5years and serves asdown payment for new

equipment loan

Training and technicalassistance is free

CaritasBangladesh

Grant/Credit Smallfarmers &landlesspeople

Focus on day laborerswho offer their servicesto whoever pays themany salary no matterhow small; also focuson tribal people andwomen. Programcenters on furnishinghand pumps forirrigation to be paid

back in 24 months.Have to cover 50% ofdown payment.

Free installation ofpumps and technicalassistance.


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Other

ARC SierraLeone

Grant/Credit Women &refugees

Three step programcombining grant andloan products and

business developmenttraining

Refuge to returnprogram providesclients with certificates

and credit historyenabling them easieraccess to credit in theirhome countries

Ashrai Bangladesh

Savings/Credit

Indigenous;landless

Focus on the Adivasis(mostly landless andilliterate) whoseaverage income is $50per year

Savings mobilization,institution building,literacy interventions

Luceana Cambodia

Credit Ruralfarmers

Luceana supplies creditto 61 Credit

Communities whosenumber ranges from 50to 150 people

Community retainsinterest/collateral from

borrowers and is ableto use the interest forcommunity purposes

Freedomfrom Hunger(Credit withEducation)

Credit Very Poor Womenvulnerableto chronichunger

Help small groups ofwomen (around 25)secure a loan. Insteadof collateral, thewomen co-sign foreach other

Provide education towomen at weeklymeetings consisting ofhealth, nutrition,family planning andsound businesspractices

Pact

(WORTHprogram)

Savings /

Credit

Women,

refugees,HIV/AIDS

Enables women to

build transparentsavings and creditgroups through villagebanking model

WORTH starts with

literacy, numeracy,savings and actionoriented learning

SafeSave Bangladesh

Savings /Credit

Slumdwellers

Work in the slums ofDhaka mainly

Send a collectionofficer everyday toclients to see if theywant to save that day.Returns the money ifneeded for expenditureand issues loans

against future savings.No fixed repaymentschedules.


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Other

CBDIBA Benin

Savings /Credit / Nonfinancial

services

Poor In addition to savingsand loan services, theyalso provide literacy

training andinformation on legalrights to clients

FINCA Uganda

Savings /Credit

Poor;HIV/AIDS

Focus on key areas ofcompetency i.e.microfinance servicesand broadening theportfolio of theseservices to clients

Advocate solidaritygroups as supportmechanisms forfamilies coping withHIV/AIDS

PACT Myanmar

Healthinsurance

Poor Work in poorest regionin Myanmar. Project

provides health and lifeinsurance formicrocredit clients andis funded through theirpremiums

Reinforced clientloyalty to the

microcredit programby providing theseadditional insuranceservices and improveddistribution of basicdrugs at the villagelevel

Freedomfrom Hunger Uganda

Healthinsurance

Very PoorWomenvulnerableto chronic

hunger

Pilot program inUganda features pre-paid healthcare using amodel developed by

Health Partners /Uganda HealthCooperative.

Selected contractedproviders will provideinsured servicesdirectly to members in

exchange for amonthly per capita fee.Administration issimplified as there areno claims or billings.

AlternativaSolidariaChiapas -Mexico

Savings /Credit / Lifeinsurance

Onlywomen;rural;indigenous

State of Chiapas inMexico has highestincidence of poverty incountry. Most of thepopulation isindigenous and have

lost their lands

Noticed that familieswere going into debt topay for burial servicesif client died. Now hasan arrangement withZurich Insurance for

clients to pay $10annual premium forlife insurance coverageof $1,000. AlSolcollects weeklypremiums of 20 centsfrom their clients topay for this.


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MEDA Pakistan

BusinessDevelopmentServices

Homeconfinedwomen

Seeking to overcomesocial barriers in theembroidered garmentvalue chain by enablingmicroentrepreneurs toreach affluent

customers in highervalue markets throughthe use of mobilefemale sales agents

CatholicReliefServices;Freedomfrom Hunger India

LearningConversations

Rural poor Use Adult EducationPrinciples to getvillagers to discussproblems pertaining totheir own lives withoutthe need for afacilitator, thereby

making them selfreliant

HelziNoponen

InternalLearningSystem (ILS)

Poor ILS is a participatoryimpact assessment andplanning system forcommunitydevelopment programsprimarily designed tomeet the learning needsof programparticipants, village

groups and operationalfield staff.

Currently being usedby three NGOs inIndia: PRADAN, ASAand The HandloomWeavers DevelopmentSociety

WomenEconomicEmpowerment Consort(WEEC) Kenya

Group basedcredit in theform of cattle

Maasaiwomen

Provides Maasaiwomen with credit inthe form of capital thatWEEC purchases inbulk, passing on thediscount to their clients

Also provide trainingin managementpractices for cattlebreeds that are betteradapted to pasturescarcity and yieldmore milk. Loans arerepaid through the saleof milk or excess

animals.


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Other

Women andAssociationsfor Gain both

Economicand Social(WAGES)

Credit Poor Offers very low loansizes ($51) with nopreliminary savings to

returning refugeesaround Lome and verypoor people in anenvironmentallyvulnerable region ofTogo

InternationalLabourOrganization(ILO) incoordination

with localpartners

Savings /Credit / SocialEmpowerment / Skilltraining

Bondedlabour inSouth Asia

Main components ofprogram are offeringmicrofinance servicesto the extreme poor,spreading social

awareness messagesand providing skilltraining to upgradetheir competence orprovide an alternativelivelihood

ResourceIntegrationCenter (RIC) Bangladesh

Credit / SocialEmpowerment / Literacy

Poor;Elderly

Current focus area issenior citizens whohave difficultyaccessing sources ofincome. RIC attempts

to establish theircreditworthiness andprovide them withmicrofinance

SEF - TCP,theThomisano

CreditProgramme

Credit Very Poor TCP strictly targetswomen who live belowhalf the poverty line byfirst conductingparticipatory wealthranking. Thereafterfield staff go to the

poorest households tomotivate the women ofthose households tostart or resume anincome generatingenterprise.


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Other

GrameenBankStruggling

MembersProgramme

Interest-freeloans

Beggars Beggars are notrequired to give upbegging but are

encouraged to take onincome generatingactivities slowly, untilthey can become aregular member ofGrameen Bank.

PAWG Liserve Discussion on Effective Approaches to Reaching the Very Poor

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