Project Snapshot: Testing the Graduation Model in Ethiopia

The Relief Society of Tigray (REST) is the largest NGO in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where it implements a wide range of development programs that focus on food security and relief, environmental rehabilitation, gender equity, income diversification, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

A REST initiative, Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) project, seeks to determine whether it is possible to help the ultra-poor graduate to a level of self-sufficiency, in particular to a level where they can benefit from microfinance services. The objective of the project, which follows the graduation model, is to understand how safety nets, livelihoods support, and microfinance can be sequenced to create pathways for the poorest out of extreme poverty. The project serves 925 households within the Wukro district in the Tigray region.

Prior to the implementation of the TUP project, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) conducted a baseline study in 2010 that was implemented with support from the USAID FIELD-Support LWA which is managed by FHI 360, to gather information from the households that will be used to assess the impact of the intervention. In July 2012, IPA began conducting the end-line survey for the TUP project. The data analyzed will determine what changes have occurred as a result of the program interventions, and whether these changes are graduating the ultra-poor from extreme poverty, creating a stronger evidence base for effective poverty alleviation.