Our director, Steve Wright spoke at a plenary on 'Keeping the Meaning in the Market' at the SOCAP11 Conference organized by SOCAP this week in San Francisco. View the entire plenary discussion and let Steve know what you think - swright@grameenfoundation.org. 

This blog is also available in Spanish below the English copy.

For three years, PRISMA Microfinance has been using the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) to help us reach and serve our poorest clients: rural women.

We began to implement the PPI as a pilot in 2008 in two of our branches, and thanks to that good experience, in 2009 we expanded its use to all of our offices. Our goal was to reach the poorest people, and to monitor if and how their poverty levels changed. To do this, in 2010 we surveyed a sample of customers who were new in 2009, and found that--in one year--2.6 percent of these clients had moved above the national poverty line.

The use of PPI has allowed us to focus our efforts on reaching our target clients (the poor and vulnerable), and explore strategies to improve our services and deepen our efforts to reduce poverty. For us, as a microfinance organization with a social heart, the implementation of the PPI confirms that as a tool it is standardized, valid, comprehensive and flexible.

The Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) has acted as a real champion for social performance in past years as a data warehouse for microfinance institutions. They have helped lead the industry effort to create a set of social indicators through the Social Performance Task Force and have just recently revised the list.

We're very excited to help spread the word that the MIX has just recently updated its online platform to display social performance data for MFIs along with its financial performance information (you can view a sample of NWTF's data display below). We commend the MIX for its efforts and are pleased to see that it continues to innovate and promote effective double-bottom line practices.  MFIs using the PPI and reporting to the MIX are integrated into this new display and in the coming months we hope to announce how the MIX will indicate PPI Certified institutions in the new display.

It’s Friday and it’s all coming to a close. Participants from FDEA and and MEC Feprodes are preparing their action plans—getting ready for their PPI pilots and ensuring appropriate allocation of time and resources for using the PPI. This is an incredibly important step in the process; we find that without action plans, many participants would return to their institutions, overrun with work, and PPI plans would lag. Action planning gives our trainees a chance to consider all the possible operational issues, resulting in a draft plan to take back to their executives and to talk over with their field officers. Together management and staff can then understand the needs and costs of using the PPI. The planning process also results in strong commitments from more institutions to invest in social performance, an excellent way to wrap up our training.

This trip has been eye opening on so many different levels. It has given me a clearer understanding of how MFIs see the PPI and why they choose to use a poverty assessment tool. In poverty stricken countries such as these it is so important for MFIs to be able to be able to show they are mission aligned, to track their clients' progress out of poverty, and to reinforce the image of microfinance as an important tool in the fight for poverty alleviation. Lastly,  this trip has definitely reinforced the need to practice my French more when I return to DC.

West Africa may be very poor economically but the people are incredible, they are committed, and they are so generous with their time, their homes, with everything. Their “teranga” always comes through. Merci bien à tous, c’était un grand plaisir, a la prochaine!

To close, I'll leave you with a clip from our Executive Day in Bamako that was covered by Mali National Television (ORTM).

 Preeti Wali is Communications Officer at the Grameen Foundation Social Performance Management Center (SPMC). She is based in Washington, DC.

Today I took a short trip with Ali (Babacar's brother) and Andre Roland Youm, Director of Operations at Caurie MF, to Thies in west central Senegal. Thies is situated 35 miles 56 km) east of Dakar, a 90-minute drive from Saly, where we held our PPI Training and Executive session. Thies, one of the largest cities in Senegal, is an important transportation center. The junction of the eastern Dakar-Niger River railway and the northern rail and road systems is located there. So is Caurie Microfinance, one of the larger MFIs within the country.

Caurie Microfinance has a portfolio of 31,479 clients in 6 branches. It is one of three MFIs that have most recently completed a PPI pilot in Senegal through the PPI Users Collaborative in Africa (PUCA) and is a partner of Catholic Relief Services (CRS).Caurie MF is using the PPI to know their client base, to better target whom to reach, and to understand the poverty movement of those clients over time.

I met with Mamadou Lamine Gueye, the CEO of Caurie Microfinance to talk about why Caurie chose to use the PPI, what it has learned and what it is planning going forward. Check out the interview below!

Preeti Wali is Communications Officer at the Grameen Foundation Social Performance Management Center (SPMC). She is based in Washington, DC.

“Can you drive a wheel? Can you drive a door?” As pictures of pieces of a car were passed around the room, these are the questions our trainers asked. Of course, the response was a resounding “No.” Just so, the trainers explained, “The PPI is like a car, you can only drive it if you have all the parts in place.”

The most common questions during training are usually around specific PPI indicators and how they are chosen, why they are chosen, and if they can be changed. However, the PPI is not just a compilation of random questions; each question is carefully chosen through a statistical logit regression process, based upon the national survey and the correlating strength of the questions, to determine poverty likelihood. PPI trainers use exercises like the one about the car to show how those indicators are chosen, Trainees learn that the PPI is the sum of its parts, not to be broken apart. This said, it is common practice in the PPI development process and it is absolutely vital that we obtain input from institutions working on the ground to determine if there are large concerns with any of the indicators and, if so, to consider putting in a different indicator that is statistically relevant.

These exercises go a long way. They help assure participants that this is an objective process based on real data that drives the indicator selection process: “It’s not a person, it’s the machine that does the math.”

To learn more about how the PPI is developed visit our "What is the PPI?" section! 

Preeti Wali is Communications Officer at the Grameen Foundation Social Performance Management Center (SPMC). She is based in Washington, DC.

The PRE-training. It’s the first time we’ve tried this approach--training a group of PPI trainers and then having them immediately train a group of participants from MFIs that are committed to social performance and interested in using the PPI. Why do it this way? We’re building capacity among our partners who, in turn, will build it further. This approach allows Grameen Foundation staff to provide immediate feedback to our newly trained colleagues, providing clarifications and strengthening their understanding as needed. Sharlene and I will go back to DC at the end of this trip, and when that happens, who’s on the ground to be able to answer questions? Who can talk to and train other institutions interested in understanding how to use a poverty assessment tool like the PPI? Our PUCA partners can.

Catholic Relief Services, Oikocredit, Terrafina Microfinance, and Planet Rating are on the ground in Mali and Senegal. They are committed. They are willing to learn and willing to teach. This collaboration is just that, a joint venture where we work hand-in-hand to ensure that anyone who wants to use the PPI is able to do so with a support network of trainers in place.

Our group of six trainers in Bamako, Mali:
Sharlene Brown, lead facilitator
Boubacar Diallo – Mision II Afrique, lead facilitators
Bart de Bruyne – Terrafina, trainer
 Sadio Diallo – APIM, trainer
Ibrahim Mare – Terrafina, trainer
Oumar Tangara – Oikocredit, trainer

 (Left to Right, B. Diallo, I. Mare, S. Brown, B.  de Bruyne, S. Diallo, O. Tangara)

 Preeti Wali is Communications Officer at the Grameen Foundation Social Performance Management Center (SPMC). She is based in Washington, DC.

Teranga is a traditional Senegalese term meaning hospitality. Our wonderful colleague Babacar Sambe’s family did not hold back in showering us with all the teranga possible, taking us around, feeding us, and always having tea ready for those long days. Teranga gives the “T” in TLC new meaning . For me, teranga resonates with the cultures of so many developing countries--when a guest is present, the host will prepare atleast one extra serving than is necessary for meals. When you first hear this, you think, Isn’t that a waste of food in a region that suffers from famine and prevalent poverty? When we asked Babacar this question he said, “Nothing goes to waste; if it isn’t eaten here, we give it to a poor family nearby. That is the way.” I’ve just arrived but I already feel at home and, I’ll add, very full. The majority of these countries’ populations may be poor in income but there is no dearth in generosity and hospitality.

Tomorrow we’ll be leaving for Bamako to begin the pre-training and prep for our PPI training and Executive Day with our PUCA partners in Mali. More to come!

Preeti Wali is Communications Officer at the Grameen Foundation Social Performance Management Center (SPMC). She is based in Washington, DC.

Today I arrived in Dakar to join Sharlene Brown from our Social Performance team and Babacar Sambe, our West Africa representative. Along with our partners in the PPI Users Collaborative for Africa (PUCA), we were gathering for the second installment of PUCA PPI trainings.

PUCA is a two-year initiative designed to help African MFIs understand the poverty outreach of their portfolios and better track the numbers of clients are moving out of poverty. The initiative is currently working with three MFIs—Caurie Microfinance and U-IMCEC of Senegal and Kafo Jiginew of Mali. All three MFIs were trained between December and February, and began piloting the PPI shortly afterwards. In the next few days, we are going to train the staff of PUCA members – Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Oikocredit, Terrafina Microfinance, and Planet Rating – and a few of their MFI partners as a means of expanding local capacity and the use of the tool in both countries. Even more importantly, we will enlist the experiences of the MFIs already trained to help us do that. The plan is to do a pre-training, host an Executive Session where leaders of all the invited MFIs gather to discuss the benefits and challenges of doing SPM and using the PPI, and then host a full training. There’s a lot to prep work involved for all of this, but we we’re ready to do it!

My role here is to help capture the experience through a number of different media – Twitter, videos, and blogs! I’ll also be compiling information for a PUCA case study planned for release next year. The case study will outline the experiences and feedback of the three MFIs that have piloted the PPI in Senegal and Mali in the past year as well as the benefits and takeaways of working within a collaborative structure with other networks.

Just so we’re all on the same page, It’s important to set the stage of what poverty is like in West Africa, so here’s a little background on the countries we are working in and more on the PUCA initiative.

SENEGAL*

Population: 14,086,103 (July 2010)

2000-2007 Population living below $1.25 a day  = 33.5%

2000-2007 Population living below $2 a day = 60.3%

2000-2006  Population living below the national poverty line  = 33.4%

MALI*

Population: 13,796,354 (July 2010)

2000-2007 Population living below $1.25 a day =  51.4%

2000-2007 Population living below $2 a day = 77.1%

2000-2006 Population living below the national poverty line = 63.83%

*This information is taken from the CIA factbook and 2009 UNDP Report

To learn more about the PPI Users Collaborative in Africa (PUCA):

• - View the blog on the PUCA launch.
• - Download our PUCA Fact Sheet in English or French
• - View the PUCA Press Release in English or French
• - Learn more about Grameen Foundation's work in Sub-Saharan Africa
  
  

 Preeti Wali is Communications Officer at the Grameen Foundation Social Performance Management Center (SPMC). She is based in Washington, DC.

When Oikocredit joined forces in 2007 with Grameen Foundation, it became the first social investor to support the use of the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI). For the next two years, Oikocredit sponsored—and participated in—PPI pilot training for microfinance institutions (MFIs) in three countries: the Philippines, Peru and Ecuador. Then,early this year, Oikocredit doubled the number of its targeted countries to six—adding Senegal, Mali and Cambodia. The result is significant growth of PPI users in these critical countries.

“With this increased roll-out of the PPI, we can assist our partners in monitoring the effects of their loans and operations,” said Oikocredit director of Social Performance and Financial Analysis, Ben Simmes. “It means Oikocredit can be certain our financing is reaching the right people, and making a genuine difference in the lives of the poor.”

With Oikocredit’s support, Peru has become a key proving ground for the PPI. Oikocredit has seven partners in Peru currently using the PPI: PRISMA, Manuela Ramos, Pro Mujer Peru, ADRA Peru, FINCA Peru, Fondescuro, and NGO Alternativa, with an additional partner, Edaprospo, in the pilot process. There are three more in their pipeline for this year.

PRISMA was the first MFI in Peru to complete its pilot and analyze the results. PRISMA has used those results to help shape program products and services, focusing on the rural poor women whose poverty levels were verified by the PPI. PRISMA Director Diego Fernandez seeks to reach even more deeply into this community through the use of village banking or regular, local meetings for small groups of clients, usually 12 to 15 in number. “Village banking strengthens social networks,” Fernandez says. It is the best way to educate and motivate clients because they can learn from and support each other, he says. This year, PRISMA will encourage its loan officers to grow these village banks in an effort to reach more rural women more effectively.

For PRISMA, expanding its use of the PPI has been a process. Its pilot study in 2008 focused on a representative sample of clients from two branches: Huancayo and Pampas. In 2009, the MFI sampled clients in all of its 17 branches, and added a new cohort: new clients. In its 2010 survey, PRISMA will go back to those new clients from 2009 and track their progress, even among possible drop-outs, to determine their current poverty levels. In this way, PRISMA has been building its use of the PPI. By next year, the MFI anticipates surveying all clients.

PRISMA’s early PPI results have attracted new investors to the MFI. By being able to demonstrate that it is reaching rural poor clients, PRISMA has found a range of social investors who are interested in supporting and encouraging this outreach through loans with favorable conditions. Since the first results were posted, at least six investors reduced loan rates or proposed preferential terms for their loans. This funding will enable PRISMA to target its microfinance loans to even more poor people living in hard-to-reach rural areas.

Oikocredit has released its first Social Performance report, detailing its commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of the poor through access to financial services. The report shows the progression and results of Oikocredit’s many years evaluating social performance. It was presented June 10 at Oikocredit’s Annual General Meeting in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. For more information, visit Oikocredit's press section at, http://www.oikocredit.org/en/news-events/press/press-releases.