IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v156y2022ics0305750x22000997.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does a joint United Nations microfinance ‘plus’ program empower female farmers in rural Ethiopia? Evidence using the pro-WEAI

Author

Listed:
  • Hillesland, Marya
  • Kaaria, Susan
  • Mane, Erdgin
  • Alemu, Mihret
  • Slavchevska, Vanya

Abstract

Microfinance is thought to be an effective tool for empowering women. Yet, previous studies that evaluate microfinance programs have mixed findings. This is in part because there are large variations in the interventions that are evaluated, but also that there is not a standardized metric of empowerment that is implemented consistently throughout the literature. This study investigates the effectiveness of a joint United Nations program aimed at empowering rural women through women-run rural savings and credit cooperatives in Oromia, Ethiopia, using the project-Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Index. Building on more than a decade of studies and validation of different versions of the Women’s Empowerment in Agricultural Index, the tool aims to provide a standardized and comparable metric of women’s empowerment that is flexible enough to measure impacts of development projects. This study finds that the program had a positive impact on intrinsic agency for the beneficiaries with continued access to credit through the RUSACCOs between the baseline and endline.For this group of beneficiaries, the program seemed to increase the trust and respect between spouses. There is a second group of beneficiaries that appeared to have dropped out at the initial stages of the program or lost access to credit, suggesting there may have been problems with the program or possible resistance by spouses or community members. The study expands our understanding of how to measure women’s empowerment impacts of development projects within the context of a smallholder agricultural households.

Suggested Citation

  • Hillesland, Marya & Kaaria, Susan & Mane, Erdgin & Alemu, Mihret & Slavchevska, Vanya, 2022. "Does a joint United Nations microfinance ‘plus’ program empower female farmers in rural Ethiopia? Evidence using the pro-WEAI," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:156:y:2022:i:c:s0305750x22000997
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105909
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22000997
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105909?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pitt, Mark M & Khandker, Shahidur R & Cartwright, Jennifer, 2006. "Empowering Women with Micro Finance: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 791-831, July.
    2. Ganle, John Kuumuori & Afriyie, Kwadwo & Segbefia, Alexander Yao, 2015. "Microcredit: Empowerment and Disempowerment of Rural Women in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 335-345.
    3. Sekhri, Sheetal & Storeygard, Adam, 2014. "Dowry deaths: Response to weather variability in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 212-223.
    4. Annet Abenakyo Mulema & Brenda Boonabaana & Liza Debevec & Likimyelesh Nigussie & Mihret Alemu & Susan Kaaria, 2021. "Spiraling up and down: Mapping women’s empowerment through agricultural interventions using the community capitals framework in rural Ethiopia," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 113-130, January.
    5. Carinne Brody & Thomas de Hoop & Martina Vojtkova & Ruby Warnock & Megan Dunbar & Padmini Murthy & Shari L. Dworkin, 2017. "Can self-help group programs improve women’s empowerment? A systematic review," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 15-40, January.
    6. Maren Duvendack & Philip Mader, 2020. "Impact Of Financial Inclusion In Low‐ And Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review Of Reviews," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 594-629, July.
    7. Katherine Dineen & Quan V. Le, 2015. "The impact of an integrated microcredit program on the empowerment of women and gender equality in rural Vietnam," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 49(1), pages 23-38, January-M.
    8. Huis, Marloes & Lensink, Robert & Vu, Nhung & Hansen, Nina, 2019. "Impacts of the Gender and Entrepreneurship Together Ahead (GET Ahead) training on empowerment of female microfinance borrowers in Northern Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 46-61.
    9. Mano, Yukichi & Iddrisu, Alhassan & Yoshino, Yutaka & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2012. "How Can Micro and Small Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa Become More Productive? The Impacts of Experimental Basic Managerial Training," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 458-468.
    10. Matias Busso & Jesse Gregory & Patrick Kline, 2013. "Assessing the Incidence and Efficiency of a Prominent Place Based Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 897-947, April.
    11. Oriana Bandiera & Robin Burgess & Narayan Das & Selim Gulesci & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman, 2017. "Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(2), pages 811-870.
    12. Keisuke Hirano & Guido W. Imbens & Geert Ridder, 2003. "Efficient Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Using the Estimated Propensity Score," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(4), pages 1161-1189, July.
    13. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo & Rachel Glennerster & Cynthia Kinnan, 2015. "The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 22-53, January.
    14. Yonas Alem & Nzinga H. Broussard, 2018. "The impact of safety nets on technology adoption: a difference†in†differences analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 13-24, January.
    15. Raj M. Desai & Shareen Joshi, 2014. "Collective Action and Community Development: Evidence from Self-Help Groups in Rural India," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(3), pages 492-524.
    16. Mary Kay Gugerty & Michael Kremer, 2008. "Outside Funding and the Dynamics of Participation in Community Associations," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(3), pages 585-602, July.
    17. Bandara, Amarakoon & Dehejia, Rajeev & Lavie-Rouse, Shaheen, 2015. "The Impact of Income and Non-Income Shocks on Child Labor: Evidence from a Panel Survey of Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 218-237.
    18. Shahidur R. Khandker & Zaid Bakht & Gayatri B. Koolwal, 2009. "The Poverty Impact of Rural Roads: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 685-722, July.
    19. Rahman, Aminur, 1999. "Micro-credit initiatives for equitable and sustainable development: Who pays?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-82, January.
    20. Goetz, Anne Marie & Gupta, Rina Sen, 1996. "Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 45-63, January.
    21. Ana Marr, 2002. "Studying group dynamics: an alternative analytical framework for the study of microfinance impacts on poverty reduction," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 511-534.
    22. Thomas de Hoop & Luuk van Kempen & Rik Linssen & Anouka van Eerdewijk, 2014. "Women's Autonomy and Subjective Well-Being: How Gender Norms Shape the Impact of Self-Help Groups in Odisha, India," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 103-135, July.
    23. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
    24. Islam, Asadul & Nguyen, Chau & Smyth, Russell, 2015. "Does microfinance change informal lending in village economies? Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 141-156.
    25. Guadalupe Bedoya & Aidan Coville & Johannes Haushofer & Mohammad Isaqzadeh & Jeremy P. Shapiro, 2019. "No Household Left Behind: Afghanistan Targeting the Ultra Poor Impact Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 25981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Ranjula Bali Swain & Fan Yang Wallentin, 2009. "Does microfinance empower women? Evidence from self-help groups in India," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 541-556.
    27. Sintayehu Hailu Alemu & Luuk Van Kempen & Ruerd Ruben, 2018. "Women Empowerment Through Self-Help Groups: The Bittersweet Fruits of Collective Apple Cultivation in Highland Ethiopia," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 308-330, July.
    28. Deininger, Klaus & Liu, Yanyan, 2013. "Economic and Social Impacts of an Innovative Self-Help Group Model in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 149-163.
    29. Ana Marr, 2002. "Studying Group Dynamics : An Alternative Analytical Framework for the Study of Microfinance Impacts on Poverty Reduction," Working Papers 121, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    30. Mulema, A. A. & Boonabaana, B. & Debevec, L. & Nigussie, Likimyelesh & Alemu, M. & Kaaria, S., 2021. "Spiraling up and down: mapping women’s empowerment through agricultural interventions using the community capitals framework in rural Ethiopia," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 52(1):113-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. McCarthy, Aine Seitz & Krause, Brooke, 2024. "Age and Agency: Evidence from a Women’s Empowerment Program in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Etienne Lwamba & Shannon Shisler & Will Ridlehoover & Meital Kupfer & Nkululeko Tshabalala & Promise Nduku & Laurenz Langer & Sean Grant & Ada Sonnenfeld & Daniela Anda & John Eyers & Birte Snilstveit, 2022. "Strengthening women's empowerment and gender equality in fragile contexts towards peaceful and inclusive societies: A systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), March.
    2. Rahul Nilakantan & Deepak Iyengar & Samar K. Datta & Shashank Rao, 2021. "On Ethical Violations in Microfinance Backed Small Businesses: Family and Household Welfare," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(4), pages 785-802, September.
    3. Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Serrano-Cinca, Carlos, 2019. "20 years of research in microfinance: An information management approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 183-197.
    4. B, Ranjula & Wallentin, Fan Yang, 2008. "Economic or Non-Economic Factors – What Empowers Women?," Working Paper Series 2008:11, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    5. Garikipati, Supriya, 2008. "The Impact of Lending to Women on Household Vulnerability and Women's Empowerment: Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2620-2642, December.
    6. Karimli, Leyla & Lecoutere, Els & Wells, Christine R. & Ismayilova, Leyla, 2021. "More assets, more decision-making power? Mediation model in a cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of the graduation program on women's empowerment in Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    7. Shivangi Bhatia & Seema Singh, 2019. "Empowering Women Through Financial Inclusion: A Study of Urban Slum," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 44(4), pages 182-197, December.
    8. Jinnat Ara & Dipanwita Sarkar, 2021. "Customized Credit Transfer and Women Empowerment: Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials in Bangladesh," QuBE Working Papers 062, QUT Business School.
    9. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.
    10. Anirban Pal & Piyush Kumar Singh, 2021. "Do socially motivated self‐help groups perform better? Exploring determinants of micro‐credit groups’ performance in Eastern India," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(1), pages 119-146, March.
    11. Kochar, Anjini & Nagabhushana, Closepet & Sarkar, Ritwik & Shah, Rohan & Singh, Geeta, 2022. "Financial access and women's role in household decisions: Empirical evidence from India's National Rural Livelihoods project," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    12. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    13. Mohamed Arouri & Nguyen Viet Cuong, 2020. "Does microcredit reduce the gender gap in employment? Evidence from Egypt," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(2), pages 111-124, June.
    14. Nyarko, Samuel Anokye, 2022. "Gender discrimination and lending to women: The moderating effect of an international founder," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    15. Waqas Umar Latif & Sana Ullah & Wasim Ahmed & Muhammad Umar Sultan & Rana Muhammad Sohail Jafar & Muhammad Tariq & Wang Linping, 2020. "Microcredit and Economic Welfare: Experience of Poor Rural Households from Pakistan," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 976-997, August.
    16. Ban, Radu & Gilligan, Michael J. & Rieger, Matthias, 2020. "Self-help groups, savings and social capital: Evidence from a field experiment in Cambodia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 174-200.
    17. Varsha P. S. & Gayathri Reddy K. & Sudheendra Rao L. N. & Amit Kumar, 2019. "Impact of self-help groups, capacity building measures and perceived tension on women empowerment- an empirical study," Asian Journal of Empirical Research, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(3), pages 65-87, March.
    18. Kumar, Neha & Raghunathan, Kalyani & Arrieta, Alejandra & Jilani, Amir & Chakrabarti, Suman & Menon, Purnima & Quisumbing, Agnes R., 2019. "Social networks, mobility, and political participation: The potential for women’s self-help groups to improve access and use of public entitlement schemes in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 28-41.
    19. Deshpande, Ashwini & Khanna, Shantanu, 2021. "Can weak ties create social capital? Evidence from Self-Help Groups in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Ramu Maurya, 2015. "Gender, Power, and Conflict with Credit Choice: Rural Credit Programme in India," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 4(2), pages 80-92, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:156:y:2022:i:c:s0305750x22000997. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.