Decision tools – EXTRAPOLATE (PPLPI)
EXTRAPOLATE (the EX-ante-Tool-for-RAnking-POLicy-AlTErnatives) is a participatory decision support tool designed to help assess, ex-ante, the potential socio-economic impact of policy interventions on different stakeholders. The programme serves as a ‘filter’ that helps the user to sift through a range of policy measures, based on simple numerical analyses, and identify the most appropriate combinations for a given policy goal. Referred to by some as a discussion support tool, it also encourages policy discussions to be broad and unbiased, given an appropriate setting. EXTRAPOLATE is built around four main elements and their linkages: a) stakeholder groups and their livelihood status – an estimate of welfare; b) constraints that prevent stakeholders from achieving desirable (c) outcomes, which are the measurable effects of relaxing constraints and which contribute to the livelihood of stakeholders; and d) policies that impact on constraints. The programme calculates the effect of individual or combined policy alternatives on the livelihood status of the different stakeholder groups, through its/their impact on constraints and outcomes. Results are presented both numerically and graphically.