Grameen Foundation India, a subsidiary of the US-based Grameen Foundation that promotes access to microfinance and technological services, has launched an iteration of the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI), a tool that measures poverty levels of groups and individuals, for India. The tool, versions of which have been developed for various countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, can be used by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), social enterprises, social investors and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to measure poverty levels before and after interventions are employed. The index, which is based on data from the household consumer expenditure survey of India’s National Sample Survey Organization, is comprised of ten country-specific, non-financial indicators including family size, number of children attending school, type of housing and asset ownership. Organizations can use the PPI to compare the poverty levels of clients against various poverty lines including the national poverty lines (NPLs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) poverty line of USD 1.25 per day.
The PPI is currently being used by approximately 150 poverty-focused organizations in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. In India, approximately 20 MFIs in addition to social investors and other development agencies are using the tool to better serve their clients.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
About Grameen Foundation India
Grameen Foundation India (GFI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grameen Foundation, is a social business that focuses on promoting access to microfinance and technology services that will benefit India’s poorest people. GFI was established in keeping with the principles of Professor Muhammad Yunus, and aims to build on Grameen Foundation’s decade long experience in India to provide technology, human resource management tools and practices, and new business models to poverty-focused social enterprises across the country.
About Grameen Foundation
The Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC, aims to help microfinance institutions throughout the world replicate the joint-liability model of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. The Grameen Foundation provides financial, technological and managerial support to provide new business opportunities and telecommunication services for poor people in rural areas. Though it is independent of the Grameen Bank, Dr Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, serves on the foundation’s Board of Directors. Grameen Foundation reported total investments of USD 19.0 million and total assets of USD 27.3 million as of March 31, 2011.
Sources and Additional Resources:
Press Release sent to MicroCapital from Grameen Foundation India: “Grameen Foundation India Launches Updated Tool for Tracking Poverty in India.”
Progress Out of Poverty: “What is the PPI,” http://www.progressoutofpoverty.org/understanding-the-progress-out-poverty-index
MicroCapital.org story, March 5, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation Spins Off Mifos Microfinance Institution Software to Open Source Community,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-foundation-spins-off-mifos-microfinance-institution-software-to-open-source-community/
MicroCapital.org story, March 19, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation, USAID Issue $1m Guarantee to Microfinance Institution Proempresa of Peru,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-grameen-foundation-usaid-issue-1m-guarantee-to-microfinance-institution-proempresa-of-peru/
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