Microcredit and Empowerment of Rural Women Experience from Mbeya Region Tanzania

Abstract: A concern for the status of women particularly in the developing country‘s context has created global and national level initiatives with a goal to empower them. Compared to men, women lack economic opportunities, have limited access to productive and financial resources; moreover they also have minimal participation in the decision-making process. In recent years many developing countries have introduced credit programs targeting women with the explicit goal of empowering them. Given such context of women, it was the interest of this study to explore the extent to which microcredit scheme especially the pro grassroot ones can contribute to the empowerment of women with a focus to improved access to resources and changes in women‘s lives basing on the fact that such an ability tends to be limited to majority of women particularly the pro rural ones. The study was conducted in the context of rural Tanzania, Mbeya Rural District. The qualitative approach was employed to obtain the empowerment experience of the rural women members to the Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS). Findings of this research show that majority of rural women continue to have limited access to microcredit regardless of the nature of the credit scheme; access to microcredits can positively contribute both economic and non-economic changes in rural women‘s lives.