Microfinance Helps to Rural Women for Poverty Reduction in the District of Bogra, Bangladesh

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to examine the role of microfinance programs in poverty reduction among the poor women in Bogra District. The study was based on data collected from a total of 400 microfinance beneficiaries, which was recruited using a simple random sampling in the year 2011. The study findings suggested that there was no significant relationship of microfinance on specific variables such as household income, education opportunities, employment, health, nutrition, sanitations facilities and womens empowerment in the district of Bogra. Only housing status of microfinance beneficiaries had improved during their membership periods. This study proposed a poverty reduction model that includes various aspects including political and social policy reformulations; natural disaster management; employment opportunities;financial assistances; zakat and social safety nets; proper healthcare for the poor; education and knowledge institutions; technical or skills development training; vocational education; development infrastructure and shelter; womens empowerment and capacity building; as well as womens human rights and social justice in order to be more effective in understanding and finding solutions to mitigate poverty in general. Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) to reduce poverty in the country. It is also conceded by a good number of economists and MFIs that the programs are successful in the poverty reduction in Bangladesh. However, it is estimated nearly 45% of the country's population lives below poverty line (2).The prime objective of the study would be examining the impact of microfinance programs in poverty reduction initiatives in Bangladesh An effective poverty reduction program will only consider the poor as change agents. The poor do not need aid; they need opportunity to get empowered to improve their living standard (3). The study by Ahmad (2009), approximately 1000 of microfinance institutions and services are in existence and operational in serving 17 million active borrowers in more than total of 85,000 villages in Bangladesh. The largest microfinance sector reaches 37% of Bangladeshi household, which is amongst the highest coverage in the world (4). However, the effectiveness of microfinance programs is not considered to improve the living standards of the Bangladeshi poor communities (5,6). The major part of this study was dedicated to evaluate the microfinance programs in Bangladesh. There was a scope to study the sustainability of short term gains of poor people in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study attempted to evaluate whether the microfinance projects are imperative for poverty reduction in Bangladesh. Amid all these remarks, it is vital to scrutinize the effectiveness of micro-financing initiatives in poverty reduction, with special references to Bangladesh.