##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##
Abstract
Women, more than men, are faced with difficulties in accessing financial services. Women in developing countries in particular, face cultural barriers that prevent them from access to credit for productive ventures and are often restricted to the home. As a result, most women in developing countries are poor compared to men. Women’s empowerment brings about women, individually and collectively, becoming aware of how power relations operate in their lives and gaining self-confidence and strength to challenge gender inequalities. When women become empowered, they can become the surest conduit to poverty reduction. This paper assessed the extent to which the Upper Manya Krobo Rural Bank’s microcredit programmed has empowered women clients. The paper is based on a doctoral research output that used structured questionnaire, in-depth interview guide and focus group discussion guide to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from a sample of 420 exits, repeated and permanent microcredit clients. The data was processed and analyzed using SPSS version 16 to generate descriptive results. One of the main findings of the paper is that about 92 percent of the microcredit clients were women and that 93 percent of the clients used microcredit as their main source of business finance. It was also revealed that participating in the microcredit programmed has enables the clients improve on their financial, human, physical and social asset base. The paper noted that non-financial services such as family planning services, business management training, etc. were however withdrawn from the microcredit programmed when the bank achieved self-sufficiency in 2004. The paper recommends that the management of the Upper Manya Krobo Rural Bank re-instate the non-financial service component of the microcredit scheme since it is beneficial to the clients.
Key words: Microcredit, women’s empowerment, self-esteem, decision making, Upper Manya Krobo,##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##
How to Cite
Tetteh, E. K., Antwi, D. K. B., & Opareh, N. O. (2014). Microcredit and Women Empowerment: Evidence from Microcredit Clients of the Upper ManyaKrobo Rural Bank in the Eastern Region of Ghana. International Journal of Emerging Trends in Science and Technology, 1(06). Retrieved from http://igmpublication.org/ijetst.in/index.php/ijetst/article/view/273
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51. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Sinha, B., Jha, S., &Negi, N. S. (2012). Migration and empowerment: the experience of women in households in India where migration of a husband has occurred. Journal of Gender Studies, 21(1), 61–76.
52. Srinivasan, N. (2010) Microfinance State of the Sector Report 2010.New Delhi; Sage Publications.
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56. Yunus, M. (2003), “Banker to the Poorâ€, Oxford University Press
2. Albredi, I. (2010): “Speech: World’s Women at the centre of Achieving MDGs,†http://www.unifem.org/news events/story detail.php? Story ID=1171, last accessed 01.05.2011.
3. Ashe Jeffrey and Lisa Parrott (2001) Impact Evaluation of PACT’s Women’s Empowerment Program in Nepal: A Savings and Literacy Led Alternative to Financial Institution Building (Cambridge, Mass.: Brandeis University, 2001), 8.
4. Bank of Ghana.(2007).A Note of Micro financein Ghana. WP/BOG-2007/01.Bank of Ghana: Accra.
5. Batliwala, S. (1994). The Meaning of Women's Empowerment: New Concept from Action. In G. Sen, A. Germain, & L. Chen (Eds.), Population Policies Reconsidered: Health Empowerment
6. Bebbington, Anthony (1999). Capitals and Capabilities: A framework for Analysing Peasant Viability, Rural Livelihood and Poverty. World Development. Vol. 27, No. 12, PP: 2021-2044.
7. Burkket, I. (2007). Globalised Microfinance Economic Empowerment or Just Debt? InL. Dominelli (Ed.), Revitalizing Communities in a Globalizing World (pp.155- 160). Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing.
8. Berge, Lars Ivar, Kjetil Bjorvatn, and Bertil Tungodden, (2011), Human and financial capital for microenterprise development: Evidence from a field and lab experiment, NHH Dept. of Economics Discussion Paper.
9. Burkket,I. (2007). Globalised Micro finance Economic Empowerment or Just Debt? InL. Dominelli (Ed.), Revitalizing Communities in a Globalizing World (pp.155- 160). Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing.
10. Carolyn Barnes, Eric Keogh and Nontokozo Nemarundwe (2011). Microfinance program clients and impact: An assessment of Zambuko Trust, Zimbabwe
11. Chambers, R. and Conway, G. (1992).Sustainable rural livelihoods: practical concepts for the 21stcentury .IDS Discussion Paper No. 296. Brighton: IDS.
12. Chest on, S. and Kuhn, L. (2002).Empowering Women through Micro finance. New York: UNIFEM.
13. Cull, R. Demirguc- Kunt, A. and Mordoh, J. (2009) Microfinance Performance: A Global Analysis. Journal of Economic Perspectives. February.
14. Daley-Harris S. (2007). Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2007.
15. Daley_ Harris, Sam. (2006). State of Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2006. Washington DC. Microcredit Summit Campaign
16. Datta, Rekha and Judith Kornberg, eds, (2002) Women in Developing Countries: Assessing Strategies for Empowerment. Boulder: Lynne Rienner
17. Easterly, William (2006).The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. Penguin Press, New York.
18. Hashemi, S.M., Schuler, S.R. and Riley, A. (1996).Rural Credit Programs and Women‘s Empowerment in Bangladesh. World Development,24(4), 635–53.
19. Hennink, M., Kiiti, N., Pillinger, M., & Jayakaran, R. (2012).Defining empowerment: perspectives from international development organisations.Development in Practice, 22(2), 202–215
20. Hubka, A and Zaidi, R (2005) ‘Impact of Government Regulation on Microfinance’. Article prepared for the World Development Report 2005. Retrieved September 26, 2010, from
21. Ibrahim, S., & Allen, E. (2007). Agency and Empowerment: A Proposal for Internationally Comparable Indicators. Oxford Development Studies, 35(4), 379–403.
22. International Labour Organisation. (2007). Green Jobs and global warming: ILO to discuss new initiatives for tackling climate change in the world of work. November 2007.\
23. Israel, G.D. (2009). Determining Sample Size.University of Florida IFAS Extension. Retrieved on 22/4 2011 from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pd006
24. ISSER, (2010). The State of the Ghanaian Economy. University of Ghana, Legon.
25. Kabeer, N. (1998). Moneycan‘t buymelove?Re-evaluating gender, creditand empowerment in rural Bangladesh,IDS Discussion Paper 363.
26. Karlan, D. and J. Zinman (2009) Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila. (mimeo).
27. Karlan, Dean, and Martin Valdivia, (2010), Teaching entrepreneurship: Impact of business training on microfinance clients and institutions, Review of Economics and Statistics 93, 510-527.
28. Khandker, S. R. (2005). Microfinance and Poverty: Evidence Using Panel Data from Bangladesh. The World Bank Economic Review, 19(2), 263–286.
29. Klas, G (2011), Die Mikrofinanz-Industrie: Die große Illusion oder das Geschäftmit der Armut (The Microfinance Industry: The Great Illusion or the Business of Poverty), Hamburg: Association A.
30. Krauss, Nicolas A. and Walter, Ingo (2008) Can Microfinance Reduce Portfolio Volatility? NYU Working Paper No. FIN-06-034
31. Ledgerwood, J. (1999). Microfinance Handbook: An Institutional and Financial Perspective. Washington D.C: World Bank.
32. Ledesma, Jesila (2002) “Empowerment Impact Report on TSPI’s Kabuhayan program,†draft, April 2002
33. Littlefield, E., Murduch, J., and S. Hashemi, (2003). “Is Microfinance an Effective Strategy to Reach the Millennium Development Goals?†CGAP Focus Note 24.Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, Washington, D.C.
34. Lanao-Flores, I. &Serres, P. (2009) ‘Microfinance and non-financial services: An impossible marriage?’ Private Sector Development, 3(3), 1-6.
35. Islam, A. and Harris, M. N. (2008) Medium and Long-term Participation in Microfinance: An Evaluation Using a Large Panel Data Set from Bangladesh. Available online at http://nzae.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/nr1215136111.pdf. Last accessed on 22/3/11
36. Marconi, R. & Mosley, P. (2006) ‘Bolivia during the Global Crisis (1008-2004): Towards a Macroeconomics of Microfinance’. Journal of International Development, 18, 237-261.
37. Mason, K. O. (2005). Measuring Women's Empowerment: Learning from Cross-National Research. In D. Narayan (Ed.), Measuring Empowerment: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives (pp. 89–102). Washington, DC: The Word Bank.
38. Mayoux, L., and M. Hartl (2009) Gender and rural microfinance: Reaching and empowering women – a guide for practitioners. IFAD report. Rome: International Fund for Agricultural Development.
39. Morvaridi, Behrooz (2008). Social Justice and Development.Available online at www.ebay.com/...Development...Morvaridi-2008...-/5708399. Accessed on 26/3/10
40. Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX). (2012). Micro-banking Bulletin, Issue No. 8, July 2012. Washington D.C: MIX. Available online at www.mixmarket.org.Accessed on 17/5/10
41. Microfinance Transparency (MFT) (2011). Key Facts: Microfinance in Ghana. Available online at www.mftransparency.org Accessed on 14/12/11
42. Narayan, D. (2002). Empowerment and poverty reduction: A sourcebook. Washington, DC: World Bank.
43. Narayan, D. (2005a). Conceptual Framework and Methodological Challenges. In D. Narayan (Ed.), Measuring Empowerment: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives (pp. 3–38). Washington, DC: The Word Bank.
44. Norwegian Nobel Committee (2006). The Nobel Peace Prize 2006, Press release, Oslo, October. weblink: ttp://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/press.html.
45. Mosley, P. and Rock, J. (2004) ‘Microfinance, Labour Markets and Poverty in Africa: A Study of Six Institutions’ Journal of International Development, Vol 16, No. 3, pp. 467-500.
46. Opoku E., Dzene R., Caria S., Teal F., and Zeitlin A. (2009) ―Improving productivity through group lending: Report on the Impact Evaluation of the Cocoa Abrabopa Initiative‖ Working Paper Series Parpart Jane, Connelly Patricia and Bariteau Eudine (2000), Theoretical Perspectives on Gender and Development, Ottawa, Canada, IDRC.
47. Cartwright, J. (2006). Empowering Women with Micro Finance: Evidence from Bangladesh. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 54(4), 791–831.
48. Rahman, A. (1999). “Micro-credit Initiatives for Equitable and Sustainable Development: Who Pays?†World Development 27(1): 67-82.Sachs, J 2005. The end of poverty – how we can make it happen in our lifetime(England: Penguin Books)
49. Simanowitz, A. (2003). Client Exit Surveys: A Tool forUnderstandingClient Drop- Out. Journal of Microfinance, 2(1), 112-137.
50. Sinclair, H (2012), Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic: How Microlending Lost Its Way and Betrayed the Poor.
51. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Sinha, B., Jha, S., &Negi, N. S. (2012). Migration and empowerment: the experience of women in households in India where migration of a husband has occurred. Journal of Gender Studies, 21(1), 61–76.
52. Srinivasan, N. (2010) Microfinance State of the Sector Report 2010.New Delhi; Sage Publications.
53. Sanyal, P. (2009) From credit to collective action: The role of microfinance in promoting women’s social capital and normative influences. American Sociological Review 74: 529-550.
54. United Nations (1995a).Implementing the World Bank's Gender Policies: Progress Report No 1. World Bank
55. Wee, Vivienne and Noeplean, Heyzer.(1995). Gender, Poverty and Sustainable Development. Singapore: Engender World Bank (2001) Engendering development: Through gender equality in rights, resources, and voice – summary. Washington, DC. www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/engender summary.pdf.
56. Yunus, M. (2003), “Banker to the Poorâ€, Oxford University Press