How to Transition to an Updated PPI >

By Frank Ballard

So you’ve just found out the PPI your organization uses has been updated. Great! Your poverty data will be more accurate because it is based on the most recent national household income survey available in your country. Your organization will be better able to target and understand the poor households it serves.

	Bangladesh (updated in 2013) Bolivia (updated in 2015) Ecuador (updated in 2015) Mexico (updated in 2009) Pakistan (updated in 2009) Vietnam (updated in 2009)  Uganda (updated in 2015)
	Colombia (updated in 2012) Ghana (updated in 2015) India (updated in 2012) Indonesia (updated in 2012) Nepal (updated in 2013) Peru (updated in 2012) Philippines (updated in 2014)
	Kenya (updated in 2011) Morocco (updated in 2013) Nigeria (updated in 2015)

To help with the transition, Grameen Foundation has published a guide on transitioning to an updated PPI (website log-in required). Not each update is created equal. During the years between the previous PPI’s development and that of the updated one, there may have been changes to the definition of poverty within the country. If there have been, organizations that want to continue comparing future PPI data with past data must either use legacy poverty lines, specifically built for this purpose, or continue to use the previous PPI, in addition to the updated PPI. While the former method is preferred, it is not always possible.  Why not? I’m glad you asked. Legacy poverty lines are developed using definitions of poverty from the previous PPI, before changes were made. When details of these changes are unavailable, legacy poverty lines cannot be developed, so the updated PPI cannot be calibrated to be comparable with the previous PPI.

There are three scenarios for an updated PPI, all of which can be identified with the following icons:

Green Reset: There has been no change in the definition of poverty for the updated PPI. Your organization may compare results from the previous PPI with those of the updated PPI without complication.

Yellow Reset: The definition of income or expenditure, the definition of a poverty line, or both has changed AND legacy poverty lines have been created.

Red Reset: The definition of income or expenditure, the definition of a poverty line, or both has changed AND legacy poverty lines could not be created because the government did not release detailed explanations of these changes.

At the right we categorize each of the 20 PPIs that have been updated as of December 2015 with the above scenarios.