Assessing The Social Performance of Microfinance Using the QUIP: Findings from Huancayo, Chimbote and Cajamarca, Peru

This paper draws upon a series of studies of village banking programs in Peru to argue in favor of using a qualitative in-depth individual interview protocol (QUIP) to reveal and analyze diverse impact. The paper presents the following details about QUIP:

• It was developed for practitioners who wanted to monitor their social performance using qualitative methods in a cost-effective, timely and reliable way;
• It was designed as a qualitative protocol that practitioners themselves could use;
• It aimed to help managers tailor their programs, services and products to maximize the impact of their organization on poverty reduction.

The paper discusses:

• The background and aim of the studies;
• The methodology - the manner in which the interviews were conducted;
• The research areas - the three provinces in Peru;
• The profile of organizations and the services they offered;
• Client profiles.

The paper discusses findings about:

• Business profitability after the baseline survey;
• The use of credit;
• Reasons for client exit;
• Group dynamics;
• Impact on household well-being.

It concludes that:

• Those least able to benefit from the programs were women with dependent children;
• Clients exited the program due to their own/relatives' ill-health;
• Kinship obligations and the highly gendered dimension of health-care prevented them from using loans for their own businesses;
• Conflict within groups was another major reason for exit.