For most development programmes or organisations in the Philippines, impact assessment (IA) is still a one-off, donor-driven activity that is conducted halfway through a programme or part of post-programme evaluation.
This is also true in the field of microfinance, where most Philippine microfinance organisations (MFOs) hold the conventional view that IA and market research (MR) studies are very expensive to undertake and should be left in the care of donors and external consultants. The fact that there are available tools to assess impact, such as the AIMS and MicrosaveAfrica tools has not done much to change this attitude. This is partly due to limited access to information on these tools, but also to lack of understanding about how these tools can be effectively integrated into operational activities. In addition, although microfinance was established in the Philippines as a poverty alleviation strategy, the sector has mainly focused on scale and financial sustainability.
This article reports on how the microfinance organisation CARD (Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development) has responded to the opportunity provided by the Imp-Act programme to raise consciousness of how indicators of client impact can be monitored and assessed. It reflects the realisation that IA is not only a question of employing tools and methodologies, but is about thinking about the context and circumstances in which the assessment is to be conducted. Section 2 provides background information about CARD and the development of its internal impact-monitoring and assessment systems. Section 3 describes a client assessment training workshop, organised with Freedom From Hunger, as a case study of what can be achieved. Section 4 then describes the planned role of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines (MCPI) in sharing these experiences within the microfinance sector. Section 5 concludes by highlighting issues and challenges ahead.
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This article comes from the IDS Bulletin 34.4 (2003) Institutionalising Impact Monitoring and Assessment of Microfinance: Experiences from the Philippines
