Microcredit: Empowerment and Disempowerment of Rural Women in Ghana

Microcredit for women is a commonly used strategy for women empowerment. Based on longitudinal qualitative research with rural women who are involved in an NGO-run micro-lending program in Ghana, this paper examines the empowerment effects of rural women's access to microcredit. We found that some women are empowered as a result of their access to credit; some have little control over the use of loans and are not. better off; and some are subjected to harassment and are worse off due to their inability to repay loans in time. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.