Microfinance and women's empowerment in Uganda: A socioeconomic approach.

摘要

In the 1990s Ugandan farmers became increasingly interested in microfinancial resources (MFRs) that were being promoted nationally as important means for poverty alleviation and for women's empowerment. In Arua and Mukono, households diversified their income generating strategies through formal, semi-formal and informal financial institutions. However, little has been done neither to assess the position of women in credit/savings initiatives nor to assess the capacity of MFRs in empowering women. There have been no studies in Uganda that have used a methodology that adequately defines and measures women's empowerment. Available studies tend to focus only on defining a set of factors that affect women's access to microfinance, and they give the impression that women are a homogenous group for whom microfinance would provide automatic and uniform benefits.; The present study examines the nature of women's empowerment as measured by decision-making power, in relation to various types of MFRs. It recognizes the multidimensional nature of empowerment as a process involving personal, social, economic and political dimensions. This study focuses on decision-making power as the basis for transforming lives at the household level and in the wider society.; Data were derived from a questionnaire survey of a sample of 527 women and men farmers in the two regions. Causal analysis was attempted using Multiple Logistic Regression to determine the effects of microfinancial use on women's decision-making power in agricultural activities and household income use.; The study establishes that participation in informal financial groups is the most important microfinancial resource promoting women's empowerment in Ugandan rural households. Both women and men use informal financial groups more than any other source of microfinance. However, the benefits are significantly influenced by other sociocultural factors. For example, participation in informal financial groups increases women's decision-making power over non-traditional matters—household income control, but not over women's traditional issues—agricultural production. On the other hand, rural men's empowerment is associated with their use of informal loans from individuals—friends, relatives or merchants. For women, individual-level factors such as occupation (farming, trading), and household level factors, notably household headship, have a profound influence on women's empowerment in both traditional and non-traditional spheres of decision-making. In contrast, rural men's empowerment is mainly associated with their gender rather than with household level conditions.; The study recognizes the limits of the transformative capacities of MFRs, especially of the more formal sources of credit, and it shows that financial empowerment does not necessarily lead to a transformation in gender relationships. It concludes by advocating an integrated approach to microfinance delivery in Uganda, since the integrated informal sources offer the best opportunities for rural farmers in general and women in particular.