Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco

Fatima Zahra Achour; Zineb Hda

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco

Fatima Zahra Achour, Zineb Hda

Published in Journal of Investment and Management (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Received: 25 February 2022 Accepted: 23 March 2022 Published: 29 March 2022

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Abstract

Women's empowerment is one of the biggest barriers to progress in Morocco, since women continue to constitute the majority of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, particularly in rural areas. Our contribution is to evaluate the impact of participation in a microfinance institution (MFI) on women’s empowerment in the rural commune of Aoufous, located in the Errachidia province (Morocco). It is divided into two sections. First, it compares the empowerment of women who participate in a MFI to women who do not participate in any MFI. Second, it examines whether loan amount, length of membership, income-generating activities and household income, influence the overall empowerment index among MFI participants. To do this, an overall empowerment index is constructed employing five dimensions of empowerment: economic decision-making, household decision-making, freedom of movement, political and social awareness and ownership of assets. Then a regression analysis is carried out using primary data collected from a sample of 76 women (33 members and 46 non-members) from the research region. Our findings indicate that participation in the microcredit program has a significant and positive role in determining the overall empowerment index. Furthermore, the loan amounts as well as engagement in income-generating activities are significant determinants of women empowerment. According to the findings of our study, MFIs play an essential role in women’s empowerment.

Published in	Journal of Investment and Management (Volume 11, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13
Page(s)	16-24
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Women’s Empowerment, Microcredit, Micro Finance Institution, Morocco

References

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Fatima Zahra Achour, Zineb Hda. (2022). Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco. Journal of Investment and Management, 11(1), 16-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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Fatima Zahra Achour; Zineb Hda. Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco. J. Invest. Manag. 2022, 11(1), 16-24. doi: 10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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Fatima Zahra Achour, Zineb Hda. Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco. J Invest Manag. 2022;11(1):16-24. doi: 10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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@article{10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13,
  author = {Fatima Zahra Achour and Zineb Hda},
  title = {Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco},
  journal = {Journal of Investment and Management},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {16-24},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jim.20221101.13},
  abstract = {Women's empowerment is one of the biggest barriers to progress in Morocco, since women continue to constitute the majority of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, particularly in rural areas. Our contribution is to evaluate the impact of participation in a microfinance institution (MFI) on women’s empowerment in the rural commune of Aoufous, located in the Errachidia province (Morocco). It is divided into two sections. First, it compares the empowerment of women who participate in a MFI to women who do not participate in any MFI. Second, it examines whether loan amount, length of membership, income-generating activities and household income, influence the overall empowerment index among MFI participants. To do this, an overall empowerment index is constructed employing five dimensions of empowerment: economic decision-making, household decision-making, freedom of movement, political and social awareness and ownership of assets. Then a regression analysis is carried out using primary data collected from a sample of 76 women (33 members and 46 non-members) from the research region. Our findings indicate that participation in the microcredit program has a significant and positive role in determining the overall empowerment index. Furthermore, the loan amounts as well as engagement in income-generating activities are significant determinants of women empowerment. According to the findings of our study, MFIs play an essential role in women’s empowerment.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco
AU - Fatima Zahra Achour
AU - Zineb Hda
Y1 - 2022/03/29
PY - 2022
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13
DO - 10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13
T2 - Journal of Investment and Management
JF - Journal of Investment and Management
JO - Journal of Investment and Management
SP - 16
EP - 24
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2328-7721
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13
AB - Women's empowerment is one of the biggest barriers to progress in Morocco, since women continue to constitute the majority of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, particularly in rural areas. Our contribution is to evaluate the impact of participation in a microfinance institution (MFI) on women’s empowerment in the rural commune of Aoufous, located in the Errachidia province (Morocco). It is divided into two sections. First, it compares the empowerment of women who participate in a MFI to women who do not participate in any MFI. Second, it examines whether loan amount, length of membership, income-generating activities and household income, influence the overall empowerment index among MFI participants. To do this, an overall empowerment index is constructed employing five dimensions of empowerment: economic decision-making, household decision-making, freedom of movement, political and social awareness and ownership of assets. Then a regression analysis is carried out using primary data collected from a sample of 76 women (33 members and 46 non-members) from the research region. Our findings indicate that participation in the microcredit program has a significant and positive role in determining the overall empowerment index. Furthermore, the loan amounts as well as engagement in income-generating activities are significant determinants of women empowerment. According to the findings of our study, MFIs play an essential role in women’s empowerment.
VL - 11
IS - 1
ER -

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Author Information

Fatima Zahra Achour

Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kénitra, Morocco
Zineb Hda

Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Rabat, Morocco

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APA Style

Fatima Zahra Achour, Zineb Hda. (2022). Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco. Journal of Investment and Management, 11(1), 16-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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ACS Style

Fatima Zahra Achour; Zineb Hda. Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco. J. Invest. Manag. 2022, 11(1), 16-24. doi: 10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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AMA Style

Fatima Zahra Achour, Zineb Hda. Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco. J Invest Manag. 2022;11(1):16-24. doi: 10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13

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@article{10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13,
  author = {Fatima Zahra Achour and Zineb Hda},
  title = {Microcredit and Women’s Empowerment: A Case Study in Rural Morocco},
  journal = {Journal of Investment and Management},
  volume = {11},
  number = {1},
  pages = {16-24},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jim.20221101.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jim.20221101.13},
  abstract = {Women's empowerment is one of the biggest barriers to progress in Morocco, since women continue to constitute the majority of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, particularly in rural areas. Our contribution is to evaluate the impact of participation in a microfinance institution (MFI) on women’s empowerment in the rural commune of Aoufous, located in the Errachidia province (Morocco). It is divided into two sections. First, it compares the empowerment of women who participate in a MFI to women who do not participate in any MFI. Second, it examines whether loan amount, length of membership, income-generating activities and household income, influence the overall empowerment index among MFI participants. To do this, an overall empowerment index is constructed employing five dimensions of empowerment: economic decision-making, household decision-making, freedom of movement, political and social awareness and ownership of assets. Then a regression analysis is carried out using primary data collected from a sample of 76 women (33 members and 46 non-members) from the research region. Our findings indicate that participation in the microcredit program has a significant and positive role in determining the overall empowerment index. Furthermore, the loan amounts as well as engagement in income-generating activities are significant determinants of women empowerment. According to the findings of our study, MFIs play an essential role in women’s empowerment.},
 year = {2022}
}

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