ABCD-Training-of-Trainers-Tools-July-2013

(Source: SEWA and Coady Institute)
Introduction
The leaky bucket tool can also be employed by community members and development organizations
alike to track changes in the local economy over time. Even though it yields only rough and largely
subjective estimates, they can nonetheless be very useful for improving understanding of, and building
consensus about, important developments.
The Leaky Bucket as an evaluation tool in India
Below you will find a Leaky Bucket labeled “Before.” (It is provided as a handout in the Training
Materials Guide). This is a leaky bucket constructed by a community that was working with the Self-
Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in 2003. As you can see, the community listed several inflows:
grants, wages, salaries, agriculture produce sales, loans, and project funds. The size of the arrows
represents the amount of money flowing into or out of the community from each source. Agriculture
produce sales and wages generated the most income. Loans generated the least.
The holes in the bottom of the bucket show how money was leaving the community. Medical, daily
commodities, fodder, luxuries, festivals, farm equipment, and transportation costs were identified as
leaks. The community was losing a lot of money to daily commodities and festivals. SEWA used the
leaky bucket tool to help people visualize the local economy and imagine ways to (1) increase inflows,
(2) decrease leaks, and (3) increase circulation of money within the community. In this case, the
community decided to:
1. Establish a small local retail operation that sells daily commodities (reducing the amount they
spent on groceries outside the community);
2. Open a marriage and utensils supply rental shop (reducing the amount they spent on these
supplies outside the community);
3. Start a bicycle rental and repair shop (reducing the amount they spent on transportation);
4. Add value to their agricultural produce (attracting outside buyers to come to their community to
purchase).
These changes in the local economy are reflected in the “Before” and “After” diagrams below. You can
see in the “After” diagram that there is now more money coming into the community from agricultural
produce sales. There is less money spent on daily commodities outside the community. There is more
money circulating inside the community. There is now more water in the bucket. Notice how the level of
water in the bucket goes up if there are more inflows and fewer outflows. When the leaks are “plugged”
like this, it is a sign of a healthy local economy.
Before
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