A low-income individual is defined as someone living on or just below the poverty line of $2 per day, equivalent to only being able to purchase 1kg of rice per day.

General characteristics

A low-income individual:

• Owns little or no land
• Has little education with a low level of literacy
• Live in stable, but impoverished circumstances

Specific characteristics

• The individual will usually live in a neighbourhood without basic facilities: clean water supply, proper sanitation, access to education through the secondary level, adequate health services and reasonable micro-finance services.
• Housing conditions are generally poor: houses generally lack windows and concrete floors.

Client classification

We classify people who need help into three distinct groups:

• Emergency - those who need emergency relief or assistance such as food aid or medical care simply to stay alive
• At risk - those who subsist at a level of absolute poverty, probably suffering from poor health, low literacy and few opportunities
• Ready for Growth - those who are poor but have good social networks and profitable income ideas which could benefit from a micro-finance loan