KPA: A Framework to Increase Success of Anti-Poverty Projects

The Knowledge for Poverty Alleviation (KPA) framework is a development model that is built on two recent, powerful development paradigms, Knowledge-Based Management and Sustainable Development.

The KPA framework can be used in the participatory design and evaluation of anti-poverty projects at the community level to increase chances of project success and sustainability. KPA emphasizes the importance of recognizing a community’s intangible assets, and proposes a set of actions to use internal and external assets to sustainably protect and build local tangible and intangible assets. Sustainability is pursued along the three domains of sustainable development: social empowerment, environmental protection, and economic sustainability.

The KPA Framework


(click to view a larger version)

This framework equips the development community with a new lens with which to view the poverty situation at the grassroots level. With a new pair of eyes, new strategies and options for improving well-being of low-income communities surface. New tools and approaches for harnessing the strengths of the community emerge. A new way to increase the chances of success of poverty alleviation projects and to sustain gains is developed.

The KPA framework was initially proposed by CCLFI.Philippines, a leading knowledge-based management and organizational learning advocacy and service provider in the Philippines, and is now being applied by the Peace and Equity Foundation, which is a leading loan and grant-giving institution in the Philippines.

Developing the KPA framework is a collaborative work in progress.  Results of on-going theoretical and operational developments are presented in this website in the hope that other collaborators, co-operators and supporters can join in its further development, operationalization and application.  This collaborative learning-in-action, we believe, is the best way to ensure continuous improvement, synergy of wider experiences on what works, wider ownership and fruitful adaptation of the KPA framework for the poor in the Philippines, Asia and elsewhere.

Learn more about how we can work together in building a truly effective framework.