In 2007, the Operations Evaluation Department in ADB examined how effective ADB's microfinance operations had been in reducing rural poverty and improving the status of women. Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Uzbekistan were selected for in-depth analysis. Comparison groups were used to define counterfactual outcomes. Econometric techniques were applied to gauge impacts on rural households. Participatory focus group discussions and varied sample surveys of women were conducted.The study examined the Rural Microenterprise Finance Project (1996) in the Philippines, the Participatory Livestock Development Project (1997), Rural Livelihood Project (1998), and Second Participatory Livestock Development Project (2003) in Bangladesh, and the Small and Microfinance Development Project (2002) in Uzbekistan.The outreach ranged from low-income to poor households. But, this did not include large numbers of the ultra poor—the focus of three of the five projects.
