Poverty reduction and sustainability of rural livelihoods through microfinance institutions. : A case of BRAC Microfinance, Kakondo sub-county Rakai district Uganda.

Abstract: Microfinance is perceived to be one of the poverty alleviation mechanisms in poor countries today. This study was set out to find out what impact microfinance has on the livelihoods of women in Kakondo sub-county, Rakai district in Uganda. The reason why the focus was put on women was to find out whether these women can manage to sustain their livelihoods on a long term perspective through the process of acquiring microfinance credit. In order to find out what impact microfinance has, a group of women from the same borrowing group (all BRAC microfinance borrowers) were interviewed. As speculated, the results from the study showed that microfinance credit does really play a key role in helping the poor cope with poverty however, as microcredit on its own does not alleviate poverty, which also brings us to the fact that these women can improve their livelihoods however sustainability on a long term perspective is doubtful.