IPO Level of Development

Objectives

The general objective of the IPO Level of Development Assessment is to determine the growth of the IPOs and the extent by which interventions of key IPO players are translated concretely towards IPO socio-economic and political empowerment.

Specifically, the IPO Level of Development aims:

• To assess the status of the IPO in the areas of organizational maturity (OM), farm productivity and income (FPI) basic social services (BSS), and gender and development (GAD);
• To classify and define IPOs based on assessed level of development; and
• To define the appropriate interventions to be implemented by the community, peoples’ organizations and implementers of DA, NGOs, LGUs and line agencies towards improving the IPO level of development,

Operational Framework

The development of an IPO is a complex process which is a balanced and holistic approach in facilitation economic, socio-political, and environmental aspects of growth processes. It is in this context that the key result areas of IPO development are defined as (1) organizational maturity (OM); (2) farm productivity and income (FPI); (3) basic social services (BSS); and (4) gender and development (GAD).

Organizational Maturity

The OM key result area shall assess the outputs and outcomes of the intervention under the Organizational Building and Strengthening (OBAS) KRA, This KRA deals with the assessment of the organizational functionality and financial viability of the IPO organizations in the ICCs. Specifically, this KRA is composed of 18 indicators, covering four major aspects namely: (a) organizational management; (b) resource management, (c) social enterprises operations; and (d) linkages and alliance building or involvement in local governance.

The organizational management aspect looks at the organizational structure, membership and leadership management, functionality of board of directors and committees, level of participation of leaders and members, and training provided.

The resource management aspect defined the generation of internal resources of the IPO, which include capital build-up generation, savings mobilization, and employment of core management.
staff.

The social enterprises operations and management aspect is focused on (a) installation of financial and operational policies, systems, and procedures (PSP); (b) projects implemented and services provided by the IPO, and (c) financial performance.

Farm Productivity and Income

The FPI key result area focuses on assessing the adoption of appropriate farm technology to effect increase of farm productivity and income. This parameter has four (4) indicators.

Basic Social Services

The BSS key result area defines the existing basic social services in the IPO and the extent of access of the IPO households to these services. Six (6) indicators are assessed in this parameter It is important to note, however, that correlates of poverty such as survival, sanitation, and housing was included in the revised IPO questionnaire. Though these indicators are initially excluded from the computation of the IPO Level of Development rating, this information are critical in the analysis of the sustainable development index. Eventually, as data on these are generated, the correlates of poverty will form part of the succeeding IPO Level of Development rating computation.

Gender and Development

The GAD key result area assesses the gender sensitiveness of the IPO development program This parameter comprises five (5) indicators.

Methodology

IPO Level of Development will be conducted yearly by the DA 4K Team composed of DA 4K regional personnel, partner stakeholders and representative from IPOs, following this process:

DATA GATHERING AND EVALUATION

1. After the training and prior to the conduct of IPO Level of Development, the team shall convene at the field level to thoroughly review and gain mastery of the IPO Level of Development Questionnaire and the guidelines in interpreting the results. They shall also agree on the data-gathering mechanics such as source documents to be reviewed, focus group discussion and interviews, observations of organization’s activities and enterprise operation, etc.
2. The IPO Level of Development Questionnaire shall be used and properly filled-up during the data gathering at the ICC level.
3. Data/information can be both from the primary and secondary sources, The team must review all existing documents and reports such as IPO Profile, monitoring reports, IPO by-laws, VMGO, written policies, financial reports, systems installed, ICC/barangay profiles, and provincial/municipal development council’s reports, etc.
4. Focused group discussion (FGD)/interview with the LGU, NCIP and the members/leaders of the organization and some members of the community shall be undertaken for the primary data requirement. Only questions applicable to each group shall be asked during the FGD/interview.
5. All IPOs within the ICC relating to agriculture shall be subjected to assessment.
6. The respondents from the cooperative/organization shall be at least 80% of the leaders (BOD & committee members}, 10% of the general membership for less than less than 300 total membership or at least 50 members for more than 300 members, all members of the core management staff. Some of the members of the community shall also be asked for validation.
7. Once the entire data requirement needed for the evaluation/assessment have been gathered and reviewed, results shall be encoded in STATISTICAL, ratings computed from the automatic formulas in the database structure, levels of development interpreted and analyzed along with other information included in the questionnaire like, FAPs, correlates of poverty, year of launch, presence of tertiary organizations and the services they offer, etc.

COMPUTATION OF RATING

The computation of rating per indicator within a key result area i.e., OM, ESS, FPI, BSS and GAD shall be done by relating the actual performance to the expected level of performance. There maybe instances that some of the indicators, are not applicable, hence, this shall not be rated.

The weighted average of the percentage ratings of the indicators are used as indicator of the level of development in a KRA. The weights are based on the relative importance of the indicator to the KRA. The ratings in each KRA are then used in computing the Index Sustainable Ancestral Domain Development (ISADD). The weighted average of the percentage ratings per KRA is interpreted as the ISADD. The weights per KRA are assigned as follows (Please refer to Annex 2 for the computation of ratings per KRA)

• Organizational Maturity (OM) – 40%
• Farm Productivity & Income (FPI) – 40%
• Basic Social Services (BSS) – 5%
• Gender and Development (GAD) – 15%

The weights were obtained using statistical methods that account for many factors including, stability of data for the KRA, overlap among the KRAs in terms of explaining Sustainable Rural Development, among others. The KRAs exhibited some degree of association. Hence, the correlations between KRAs are used in the rational distribution of weights to the KRAs to augment statistical methods.

Note that the index is supposed to measure development and the highest weight is given to FPI. This is so since the rural growth is almost synonymous with the appropriate environment and support system for agricultural production that is provided by the activities associated with FPI. BSS is also assigned higher weight as it complements the results of FPI. Given proper health care, the farmers can be capable of cultivating the land Also, education can facilitate their emancipation from the bondage of the land as they can be upgraded to the entrepreneur level.

Formula for computation of Indigenous Peoples Organization – Level of Development (IPO LOD)

IPO LOD = (OM * 0.4) + (FPI * .04) + (BSS * 0.05) + (GAD * 0.15) where

• OM is the weighted average of the percentage ratings of the OM Indicators
• FPI is the weighted average of the percentage ratings of the FPI Indicators
• BSS is the weighted average of the percentage ratings of the BSS Indicators.
• GAD is the weighted average of the percentage ratings of the GAD Indicators

INTERPRETATION OF AND ANALYSIS OF FINAL RATING

The interpretation of final index for the IPO shall be as follows:

Level 1 and 2

IPOs in Level 2 though lack technical and management skills in operating (1) business/social enterprise, while Level 1 has no business operations, No policies, declining or low membership, no trainings being conducted nor attended, no involvement in alliance building and no activities for social and environmental projects.

In consultation of the IPOs, interventions shall be purposive on the level of organizational maturity they want to achieve. Activities may be focused initially in undertaking livelihood activities that are tied-up with the production of crops the IPOs are adept at with the intent of practicing farming with reduced cost, completing the acquisition of legal personality, introduction of simple organizational systems and procedures.

Level 3

Organization structures are established and operational. Strategic plans are regularly reviewed along with their annual operations plan.

To move to higher level of maturity, the IPOs are recommended to diversify and position their enterprise by increasing the productivity and volume with appropriate markets resulting to better organizational and financial performances.

Level 4

IPOs have shown stable organizational and financial performances, with proactive membership to development committees and local governance.

In consideration to the improved capacities of IPOs in managing their organizational affairs and business operations in their own, the 4K RFOs shall conduct assessment and sustainability planning sessions. Specifically, the session is aimed at determining areas that the IPO needs enhancement and as basis of DA in providing interventions as well as in developing exit mechanism once it will reach the maturity level 5.

Level 5

IPOs in Level 5 have their VMGO is defined and understood and can be explained by the IPO leadership and members. Their plan is written and is translated into annual operation plan. The IPOs are compliant with the requirements of the SEC, DOLE, CDA and maintain their Good Standing Status.

IPOs under this level have already advanced their needs and interests that interventions from DA requiring materials may not be necessary, instead, technical guidance and monitoring for sustainability may be provided. Since the IPOs can operate independently, the government’s role is to ensure that the appropriate enabling environment is in place. The IPO shall be tapped as service provider in technology transfer and business mentoring support to other IPOs needing assistance

For IPOs under level 5 to graduate from 4K’s major interventions, they shall have a IPO LOD index score of 80% and above.