Santiago Fiorio Vaesken, a Fundación Paraguaya program officer and head of global partnerships at Poverty Stoplight, describes how visualizing poverty can help families unravel the root causes in their unique situation, and build a concrete, achievable plan to take the steps needed to the appropriate incremental actions needed.
“The methodology starts with a self-awareness survey, where participants prioritize indicators marked in red or yellow, representing poverty or extreme poverty," he said. "Participants create solutions as a family and set timeframes for achieving goals."
Poverty Stoplight can be especially useful in helping entrepreneurs—who in Paraguay are usually earning just enough to survive—develop a plan to grow their businesses and livelihoods. The surveys often highlight just how much an entrepreneur is held back by remaining in the informal marketplace, said Fernando Stumpfs, a social researcher at Poverty Stoplight.
“The research findings on business formalization obstacles reveal that informality is prevalent among microenterprises led by self-employed individuals with low income and education levels, especially in rural areas and among women,” he said.
“While formalized entrepreneurs seek to access new markets and financial services, informal ones lack sufficient incentives, as their customers do not demand formality and their businesses' profitability is constrained.”
With a firmer grasp on how informality is hurting their livelihood, entrepreneurs are often eager to take full advantage of the other programs Fundación Paraguaya pairs with Poverty Stoplight, especially customized mentorship and microfinance opportunities.
Supported by an Atlas Network grant, Fundación Paraguaya compiled their findings from across Paraguay to produce a research report highlighting the obstacles entrepreneurs face in breaking out of the informal market. This report provided a roadmap for the deeper, more systematic reform that is needed to further empower entrepreneurs.