AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT THROUGH MICROCREDIT PROGRAMS: SOME SELECTED AREAS AT SUJANAGAR UPAZILA UNDER PABNA DISTRICT

Abstract

The empowerment of women is a vital issue in developing countries. This paper evaluated the impact of microcredit on women empowerment in rural areas. It is a unique innovation of credit delivery technique to enhance income generating activities. The main objective of this study was to explore and describe some of the selected characteristics of the women credit borrowers and their relationships with the impact of micro credit program. The study was purposively conducted at Sujanagar upazilla under Pabna district. The information has been collected from 85 respondents through open-ended structured questionnaires. The data obtained from different respondents was analyzed and presented by tabular form by using computer-based software SPSS. A significant proportion of respondent’s 69.4 percent were of the aged group 31-40 years. The highest proportion 47.1 percent source of family income of microcredit women borrower`s had crop production compared to 20 percent of them having other source of income. Maximum respondent’s 49.4 percent taken the credit for crop production purposes compared to 14.1 percent of them receiving the credit for poultry farming. So, monthly income of respondents has been increased after joining with programs from Tk. 12707.79 to Tk.32446.10. Most importantly this study shows that microcredit programs are successful in empowering w omen. It is concluded that rural women have improved their socio-economic well-being as well as sustainable livelihood by participating microcredit programs in Bangladesh. Also, self-perception about microcredit programs of respondents was increased to improve social awareness and confidence in problem facing criteria. High rate of interest identified as the main problem of the respondents in accessing credit services. Also, it opens doors for further research in order to explore the socio-cultural factors which influence women empowerment.