Programs analyze the impact and cost-effectiveness of directly providing services to target groups, as compared to indirect activities that improve market conditions for all populations.9
Key Indicators (Read in conjunction with the guidance notes.):
- Program design considers both direct and indirect activities to benefit the target population
(see guidance note 1). - Program design identifies potential risks of exclusive targeting and specifies how benefits to the target population will be sustained
(see guidance note 2). - All programs develop causal models that describe how the target population will benefit from program activities
(see guidance note 3). - Monitoring tools are developed to track impact on target population.10
Guidance Notes:
1. Targeting: The purpose of targeting is to ensure that programs benefit the intended population or population segment. In developing targeting criteria, the criteria used should be sufficiently broad to include interventions that work both directly and indirectly with the targeted population, or in combination, so as to not preclude certain types of activities.
Often, assistance to a target population is more effectively channeled through indirect means. Examples of potentially effective indirect assistance include developing access to affordable, accessible commercial services that support the livelihoods of the target population (e.g., financial services, veterinary services, access to new markets); improving the operating environment in the markets most critical to the population’s income; and expanding the demand for products and services produced by the target population.
Example: Seeds can be disbursed to vulnerable households by local traders via “seed fairs.” This use of an existing market mechanism strengthens linkages between vulnerable households and existing market actors, and avoids creating a parallel seed distribution system that would hurt other market actors in the short term. Similarly, helping create a competitive veterinary sector may have stronger impacts on raising the impacts of pastoralist households than assisting the family directly. (See Common Standard 4, “Inclusive and Transparent Design and Implementation,” for more details.)
A good assessment of the poverty level of the targeted population, the specific enterprises they work in, and the market system in which enterprises function will identify the best strategy to impact the targeted group. Targeted populations active in a market that is only slightly impacted by the conflict or disaster may benefit most from assistance to other businesses in the same market that spurs demand for the targeted population’s goods or services. In contrast, populations that have few assets and that are looking to restart activities or enter into new activities may be best served with a combination of direct assistance and indirect assistance to others which can provide end markets for their goods and services.
Example: Fisherwomen operating in a flood-affected area were seeking to re-establish their business drying fish for local and regional consumption. Prior to the disaster, they dried fish on tarps on the ground, resulting in contamination of the product and a high moisture content, which limited them to selling in low-value markets. A local fish processing firm was interested in sourcing dried fish locally and had staff with experience in low-cost, effective techniques that could increase the value of the fish. However, the firm did not see the women as valuable business partners. Direct assistance was provided to the women to improve the quality and sales of their dried fish, which enabled them to link up with the firm and access its technology. At the same time, indirect assistance was provided to a local bank to develop loan products for small-scale fishers, which gave the women and others access to working capital to scale up their businesses.
2. Exclusive targeting can be detrimental: The provision of services exclusively to one population may undermine the long-term sustainable delivery of the services or reduce the effectiveness of the assistance. For example, if a lending program only works with a narrowly defined target population, this decreases the number of potential clients, jeopardizing the economic viability of the institution. Targeting services to the exclusion of other groups may increase tension, particularly in a conflict-affected environment, and weaken important market relationships that are important to the targeted population’s success.
Example: Households engaged in agriculture receive improved seed and fertilizer, but they do not benefit from this without additional improvements to infrastructure or increased processing capacity among the agricultural processors that they sell to.
3. Causal models: All interventions, whether direct or indirect, require a clear causal model that outlines how the target population will be impacted and notes the key assumptions underlying the model. This may be particularly important with indirect targeting, where it may not be obvious how assistance to one group benefits the targeted group. (See the Assessments and Analysis Standards and guidance note 2, for more information.)
Example: A program that aims to support handicraft producers by providing market assistance to agents in the regional capital should demonstrate how the different activities will lead to increased income for the producers.