TARGETING

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MBK uses three tools, applied sequentially, to identify and target its programme to the very poor:

1. Cashpor Modified Housing index
2. Ganesha Casual Income Test
3. Working Capital

The process of identifying the poorest households begins with field officers completing a housing index form for the houses of the women who express interest in joining the program. Through visual inspection, the field officers allocate points for each main component of the house, namely its size, structural condition, building materials used for walls, floor and roofing, and electricity and water. If the household passes the housing index test, the field officer proceeds to estimate the household income. If the household passes the income test, i.e., below the official poverty line, the field officer proceeds to estimate the value of the household’s productive assets such as land, motor vehicles or pedicab, livestock and working capital.

Cashpor Modified Housing Index

The Cashpor Housing Index is a poverty targeting tool developed by CASHPOR and adapted afterwards with some adjustments to Malaysian conditions by Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), and several other Grameen Bank replicators. This index is an effective tool for poverty measurement. It is low-cost and quick, since different features of a house can be visually appraised with a fair level of accuracy without the need for interviewing the owners.

Modified CASHPOR Housing index, Rural District Tangerang

Item	Type or Condition (Points)	Typical Score
Size of House	Large (3) Average (1) Small (0)	1
House Condition	Good (3) Average (1) Damaged (0)	1
Type of Roof	Asbestos/Aluminium sheet/special tiles (2) ordinary tiles (1) Grass/Hay (0)	1
Type of wall	Brick (2) Partly brick (1) Wood/bamboo/Mat (0)	1
Type of floor	Floor tile (3) Partly floor tile (2) cement (1) earthen (0)	2
Electricity	Own meter (2) Connected to another house (1) None (0)	1
Water source	Piped water (2) Protected well/pump (1) Unprotected/open well (0)	1
Housing Index 1	Total of all points above	8
Note: 1. Housing Index categories: Below 8: very poor household, 9-10: moderately poor household, 11 & above: not poor, not eligible.

Households living in a house which scores less than 8 pass directly to the second stage of the assessment, which focuses on their income. The households which score between 8 and 10 are referred for to the branch or district manager. Applicants whose houses score above the cut-off point of 10 are not eligible. Before disbursing the working capital, the branch manager double-checks the results of the poverty assessment with the members to avoid leakages of program services to the non-poor.

Ganesha Casual Income Test

In 2003, Ganesha, MBK’s precursor, developed the following table for estimating the household income of self-employed earners and labourers earning casual, seasonal income

Ganesha Casual Income Estimate

	Name 1	Job/ business	Place of work/ sale	Regular/ seasonal Job?	Working capital	Gross income/ sales/day/ week/mth		Profit/inc/ day/week/ month 2		Total days worked/ month	Profit/ income/mth	Given to house-hold?
1	Borrower
2	Borrower
3	Husband
4
	Total

¹ Include family members who send money every month/3 mths/year. Include pensioners.

² Net of transport costs to and from work Include pension income.

³ If total income more than Rp.200,000 per capita/month, not eligible. Discontinue interview

⁴ Dependency Index = total household members/total earners.