SAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN OF A POVERTY ASSESSMENT TOOL To Report to the Management of Microfinance Association of Patharland (MAP), Patharland This proposal is based on using the USAID PAT for Patharland Using the Household Survey Method

What is a Poverty Assessment ‘Tool’? Includes: –Sets of indicators and coefficients –Integration into program implementation: who implements the tool on whom and when –Data entry and analysis: MIS or other data collection system/template –Instructions for contextual or programmatic adaptation –Training materials for users

What the tools will NOT do Measure complex nature of poverty Measure multiple dimensions of poverty Measure relative poverty amongst clients Target clients for inclusion in the program (results will be only known in the aggregate) Measure impact or movement out of poverty for individual clients

INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION Beginning of Operations : 1995 Coverage: 76 branches all over Patharland Programs: Solidary Groups, Individual Credit Portfolio: US$23,863,000 Number of clients: 214,459 ( 100% women) Credit average: US $190 Funding sources: European Investment Bank and local commercial banks Entity Associated Network: Microfinance International, National Federation of Micro Finance Association

AUDIENCES FOR POVERTY ASSESSMENT USAID Evaluation & Monitoring Staff Executive Staff of organization

Pre-implementation Planning: Brief the management team in-country Assign or hire staff Plan for equipment and supplies needed Plan timeline for tasks involved in entire implementation process

Pre-implementation Questionnaire Translation: Translate the questionnaire to Patharland dialect Back-translate the questionnaire to English Pretest the questionnaire with a small group of people near headquarters before training interviewers to ensure questions are clear and easily understood

Criteria Used for Quantitative Sampling Will use our main financial product : –Solidarity groups loan which constitutes 98% of our portfolio –Will focus only on women clients who constitute 100% of our clients –Will focus on one branch representative of clients with stratification among urban, peri- urban, and rural –Clients with less than 12 months in the program will be selected

Sampling (1) - We will interview at least 300 clients within Harud branch -We chose 40% more clients (120) in the sample than needed for actual interviewing. This results in a total of 420 clients being selected. -Total sample selected was as follows:  168 from urban areas (40%)  126 from peri urban areas (30%)  126 from rural areas (30%)

Survey Sample UrbanPeri- Urban RuralTotal Clients interviewed Substitute sample (approx 40%) Total Sampling (2)

Human Resources Involved Job TitleName of Person (s)Level of Effort per person (no. of days) Project Manager Field Supervisors Sampling and Survey Tracking Coordinator Data Processing Coordinator Interviewers Data Processors Logistics

Calculation of Number of Interviewers Tools# of Minutes # of interviews per person per day in rural areas Total of interviewers Total per day # of daysTotal # of interviews using this tool Household Survey 20 minutes

Interviewers Based on the job description, we will select experienced and qualified interviewers. We will hire one more interviewer than needed in case any drop out during training. After the project manager and the field supervisor sample the clients, the field supervisor will refine the of how the implementation team is going to reach and interview the 420 clients. The project manager and the field supervisor will train interviewers. Pre-test the tool for the second time giving the interviewers practice as a part of the training. Hold FGD after pre-test to see which problems the interviewers encountered.

Planning the Interviewing Logistics Assign the sampled clients to interviewers Organize what forms of transportation each team will need Make sure that all are clear on their duties and how to handle different scenarios with interviewees Ensure that there are different levels of Quality Control (at the field level; in the office as the forms are received; and in the data cleaning)

Implementation of Interviewing Each interviewer will go to her/his assigned geographic area, supervised by the field supervisor who will perform the first phase of quality control after surveys are completed. If there is missing data, the interviewer must return to the respondent to obtain the information. Interview the assigned clients. If cannot find the assigned clients or the substitutes on the list provided by the field officer, use a random sample method to substitute the respondents by selecting a person from the locality. Forms are returned to the branch office each day where they go through the second phase of quality control by the survey and sampling coordinator.

Preparing for Data Input We will use EPI Info We will hire and train 2 data processors We will use the data from the pre-testing of the tool as part of training the data processors

Implementation of Data Input Sampling and survey tracking coordinator marks the respondents who have been successfully interviewed on master list Completed forms passed on to data processing Third phase of quality control by data processing coordinator to prepare surveys for entry Generating trial reports to test the data processing process Data analysis

Budget and Financing Resources The required funding will be estimated based upon the time frame for the project. This includes the pre-implementation phase, the training and data collection itself, data analysis and dissemination of results. See the Excel spreadsheet for the budget examples. Make projections and enter on following page.

Costs Program Staff Total: US$8,500 Administrative and Management Staff Total: US$1,000 Equipment and Supplies Total: US$700 TOTAL COST: US$10,200

Time Schedule (1) April 1-15: Sampling design; give general team orientation; compose master list of clients; translate questionnaire; transportation and logistics plan (locations, schedules, vehicles); set up data entry operations; brief management. April 15-28: Hire interviewers, data processors, finalize sampling.

Time Schedule (2) May 5-16, 2007 – Interviewer training; pre-test; organize transportation, additional logistics for field work May 19–June 17, Field interviews; data processing. June 18-20, 2007– Data comparing and cleaning, poverty calculation June 23, Report to USAID, PowerPoint presentation to management

Report Results to USAID and to Microfinance Association of Patharland Management With the report, send: Poverty calculation Database of survey data Any important comments or concerns