ACCION Poverty Outreach Findings: Apoyo Integral, El Salvador

This issue of InSight examines the poverty outreach for Apoyo Integral, located in El Salvador. The objective of this evaluation is to:

• Understand the characteristics of poverty distribution of microfinance clients and their households;
• Use this information to develop more effective means for MFIs to assess outreach to poor clients at a low cost on a regular basis;
• Support efforts to develop products that reach poorer levels of micro-entrepreneurs.

The report:

• Evaluates the poverty levels of Integral clients relative to national and international poverty lines;
• Describes client characteristics and how they vary with poverty level;
• Describe the tool developed by Integral to monitor the poverty distribution of clients, using data collected during the credit evaluation process.

The study finds that:

• 35% of Integral clients live below the relative poverty line of El Salvador;
• 8% of these clients are extremely poor;
• Clients are similarly poor in urban and rural areas;
• Poorer households are larger;
• Women and older individuals are more highly represented among clients;
• There is a negative correlation between poverty and education;
• Client satisfaction levels are disaggregated by poverty levels.

The report ends by outlining various aspects of the social scorecard developed by Integral.