Guidelines for Impact Monitoring & Assessment in Microfinance ...

IMPLEMENTATION STEPS
ries of mutually-reinforcing spirals of economic empowerment for asset or wealth
creation, increased well-being for women and their families, and wider social and
political empowerment.
3. Enterprise: (non-agricultural and agricultural activities)
Changes in income, assets, employment, management strategies and volume of
production contribute to the viability, stability and growth of non-agricultural
and/or agricultural income-generating activities.
4. Community:
As a result of wider client social and economic relations, communities develop
economically through increased off-farm and farm activities that provide goods
and services, attract income, and create jobs. Participation in local organizations
based on democratic rules and norms empowers people and mobilizes social
responsibility.
Core Impact Hypotheses 41
In terms of programme design, a hypothesis refers to a presumed correlation between
inputs and outputs, and between these direct effects and their outcomes. We
will propose a list of hypotheses that have demonstrated validity in various programmes
and settings. These represent a starting point that should be tailored
(redefined, reduced, or expanded) in such a way that they reflect each programme´s
focus, clientele, and services. We should stress that the objective of microfinance
programmes is not to help participants cope better with crisis, but to help them
gradually reach a higher level of social security and economic growth. Thus,
we also include hypotheses that refer to negative aspects that could occur due to
programme participation.
It is also important to recall that the greater the number of hypotheses, the more
extensive the evaluation process will need to be. Careful attention should be paid to
the time frame, the dynamic and the dimension of impact processes, i.e., how the
41 A detailed description of different impact hypotheses is given in: Barnes/Little (1996), Chen (1997),
Mayouox (1997), Diagne (1998), Muazzam (1998), Saith (1998); Zaman (1998), Schrieder/Sharma
(1999), and Schaefer (2000).
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