scholarly journals Conventional Microfinance in Tunisia: A Tool to Fight Poverty

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Zaied Maher ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Method ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Literature Search ◽  
Monthly Income ◽  
Survey Techniques ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Risk Situation ◽  
Islamic Microfinance ◽  
High Risk Situation ◽  
Specific Contribution

Microfinance has been identified as an important tool for reducing poverty by increasing the productivity of the poor and thereby promoting economic development. Generally, the clients targeted by microfinance are in a relatively vulnerable and high-risk situation, with a generally unstable income that sometimes causes them to fall into extreme poverty. Across our sample only 26.7% have an income above 300 dinars. This result suggests that the surveyed population is very poor, especially when we find that among the 73.3% who have an income below 300 dinars, beneficiaries have a monthly income of less than 60 dinars before financing. This finding suggests that microfinance with its current tools unable to improve the incomes of the poor, so we find that Islamic microfinance can be a new mechanism to improve this sector according to the respondents. Our research aimed to measure the specific contribution of microfinance to improving the income of the poor living in rural areas of the Tunisian Sahel during a 3-month period in 2020. To test our hypotheses we adopted a mixed method that combines both documentary research and survey techniques (questionnaires and interviews), based essentially on:The available and accessible literature search which consists of the analysis and interpretation of previous theories and studies that address the same issues on which we base our own analysis. Questionnaires distributed to microcredit beneficiaries and some MFI managers and agents. During the analysis, we proceeded question by question before measuring the opinions of our subjects on the studied phenomenon. Thus, the data collected during the investigation phase is analyzed and processed using statistical methods. It consists in using and interpreting the data collected during our surveys

scholarly journals Loneliness Among the Elderly in Rural Contexts: A Mixed-Method Study Protocol

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 160940692199686
Author(s):  
Borja Rivero Jiménez ◽  
David Conde-Caballero ◽  
Lorenzo Mariano Juárez
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Population Group ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Strict Adherence ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Technological Tools

Loneliness among the elderly has become a pressing issue in Western societies. In the Spanish context, the problem of the so-called “empty” Spain disproportionately affects this population group—elderly individuals living in rural areas with low population density, and therefore at higher risk of social exclusion and isolation. We introduce here a mixed-method, quantitative-qualitative research protocol, triangulated with technological tools, designed to improve both data acquisition and subsequent data analysis and interpretation. This study will take place in a rural locality in the Extremadura region (Spain), chosen according to a particular socio-demographic profile. The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale will be used on a cohort of 80 people over 65 years old. Within this cohort, a smaller sample of 20–30 individuals will be selected for semi-structured interviews about their beliefs and experiences of loneliness. Finally, data gathered from technological tools (smartbands, Bluetooth sensors) will allow us to monitor social interactions and to map daily loneliness/interaction patterns. Data will be triangulated by analyzing and comparing the empirical material gathered through these different methods and tools. Strict adherence to ethical standards for data protection and handling will be essential through data collection and analysis. As well as providing insights into the phenomenon of loneliness in old age, the use of different methods and tools for data collection will provide the basis for an epistemological reflection on the scope and limits of each one of these methods.

scholarly journals Information Asymmetry and Trust: A Framework for Studying Microfinance in India

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Sriram
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Imperfect Information ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The People ◽  
Financial Transactions

In recent times, microfinance has emerged as a major innovation in the rural financial marketplace. Microfinance largely addresses the issue of access to financial services. In trying to understand the innovation of microfinance and how it has proved to be effective, the author looks at certain design features of microfinance. He first starts by identifying the need for financial service institutions which is basically to bridge the gap between the need for financial services across time, geographies, and risk profiles. In providing services that bridge this gap, formal institutions have limited access to authentic information both in terms of transaction history and expected behaviour and, therefore, resort to seeking excessive information thereby adding to the transaction costs. The innovation in microfinance has been largely to bridge this gap through a series of trustbased surrogates that take the transaction-related risks to the people who have the information — the community through measures of social collateral. In this paper, the author attempts to examine the trajectory of institutional intermediation in the rural areas, particularly with the poor and how it has evolved over a period of time. It identifies a systematic breach of trust as one of the major problems with the institutional interventions in the area of providing financial services to the poor and argues that microfinance uses trust as an effective mechanism to address one of the issues of imperfect information in financial transactions. The paper also distinguishes between the different models of microfinance and identifies which of these models use trust in a positivist frame and as a coercive mechanism. The specific objectives of the paper are to: Superimpose the role of trust in various types of exchanges and see how it impacts the effectiveness of repeated transactions. While greater access to information fosters trust and thus helps social networks to reduce transaction costs, there could be limits to which exchanges could solely depend on networks and trust. Look at the frontiers where mutual trust cannot work as a surrogate for lower appraisal costs. Use an example in the Canadian context and see how an entity that started on the basis of social networks and trust had to morph into using the techniques used by other formal nonneighbourhood institutions as it grew in size and went beyond a threshold. Using the Canadian example, the author argues that as the transactions get sophisticated, it is possible to achieve what informal networks have achieved through the creative use of information technology. While we find that the role of trust both in the positivist and the coercive frame does provide some interesting insights into how exchanges with the poor could be managed, there still could be breaches in the assumptions. This paper identifies the conditions under which the breaches could possibly happen and also speculates on the effect of such breaches.

scholarly journals Experiences and guidelines for footcare practices of patients witli diabetes mellitus

Curationis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Matwa ◽  
M. M. Chabeli ◽  
M. Muller ◽  
N. S. Levitt
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Patients With Diabetes ◽  
Poor Infrastructure

The former Transkei is a predominantly rural region of the Eastern Cape Province. The poor infrastructure in this area results in inaccessibility of the available health services. The majority is ill equipped to deliver optimum diabetes care. There is an increase of lower limb amputations and lack of knowledge among patients with diabetes mellitus in the former Transkei. These complications can be prevented by patient education on self-management and appropriate footcare procedures. This qualitative study was conducted to explore and describe the experiences and footcare practices of diabetic patients who live in the rural areas of Transkei.

scholarly journals MEMAKNAI KEMISKINAN BERDASARKAN PANDANGAN ORANG MISKIN PEDESAAN

Edulib ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tine Silvana ◽  
Pawit M Yusup ◽  
Priyo Subekti
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Social Condition ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Rural Poor ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Education Psychology

AbstractRural poverty can be understood as a social condition of a person, or a group of people who were associated with aspects of economic and non-economic aspects. Scientific aspects such as social, cultural, health, education, psychology, the environment, law, anthropology, and art, was often associated with poverty. Nevertheless, the notion of poor and rural poverty is, in general, is still viewed by researcher's perspective, rather than emic, ie see something from the perspective of the participant. This study took part of the effort to comprehensively understand the meaning of poor and poverty in the eyes of the poor, especially in rural areas, roomates point is on how to map view of rural poor people in hopes of interpreting experience of livelihood as poor in underlying survival living. By using a qualitative study approach, especially the tradition of phenomenology of Schutz, obtained a description of the results, that the meaning of poor and poverty, in phenomenology, containing context, such as: context ownership; contexts effort and trial and error; contexts powerlessness; contexts outside assistance; independence in the context of compulsion; contexts unattainable expectations; context of the struggle; context of limited access to information; contexts low curiosity; contexts simplicity needs; problems humiliation context; and context sensitivity in social communication.Keywords: Meaning poor, Poverty, Rural AbstrakKemiskinan di pedesaan dapat dipahami sebagai suatu kondisi sosial seseorang, atau sekelompok orang yang terkait dengan aspek-aspek ekonomi dan non-ekonomi. Aspek ilmiah seperti sosial, budaya, kesehatan, pendidikan, psikologi, lingkungan, hukum, antropologi, dan seni, yang sering dikaitkan dengan kemiskinan. Namun demikian, gagasan tentang kemiskinan dan pedesaan, secara umum, masih dilihat dari perspektif peneliti, bukan emik, yaitu melihat sesuatu dari perspektif partisipan. Penelitian ini mengambil bagian dari upaya untuk secara komprehensif memahami makna miskin dan kemiskinan di mata masyarakat miskin, terutama di daerah pedesaan, which titik adalah bagaimana memetakan pandangan masyarakat miskin pedesaan dengan harapan pengalaman yang menafsirkan mata pencaharian sebagai masyarakat miskin untuk bertahan hidup. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan studi kualitatif, khususnya tradisi fenomenologi Schutz, diperoleh gambaran hasil, bahwa makna miskin dan kemiskinan, dalam fenomenologi, mengandung konteks, seperti: kepemilikan konteks; Upaya konteks dan trial and error; Ketidakberdayaan konteks; konteks di luar bantuan; kemerdekaan dalam konteks paksaan; konteks harapan tercapai; konteks perjuangan; konteks terbatasnya akses terhadap informasi; konteks rasa ingin tahu yang rendah; kesederhanaan konteks kebutuhan; konteks masalah penghinaan; dan sensitivitas konteks komunikasi sosial.Kata Kunci : Makna kemiskinan, Kemiskinan, Desa

scholarly journals The Nexus between Mobile Money Regulation, Innovative Technology and the Promotion of Financial Inclusion in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira ◽  
Elfas Torerai
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Mobile Money ◽  
The Poor

The advent of mobile money innovations has given people in rural areas, informal settlements and other poor communities an opportunity to participate in Zimbabwe's mainstream financial economy. However, the technology-driven money services have presented some challenges to the traditional banking sector in general and the regulation of financial services in particular. Firstly, most mobile money services are products of telecommunication corporations, which are not banks. Telecommunication companies use their network reach to provide mobile money services via mobile devices at a cheaper cost than banks across the country in Zimbabwe. As such, banks face unprecedented competition from telecommunications companies that are venturing into financial services. It also appears that prudential regulation of banks cannot keep up with the fast pace at which technological innovations are developing and this has created a disjuncture between the regulation and the use of technological innovations to promote financial inclusion in Zimbabwe. The Banking Act [Chapter 24:20] 9 of 1999, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 22:15] 5 of 1999 and the National Payment Systems Act [Chapter 24:23] 21 of 2001 have a limited scope in terms of the regulation of mobile money services in Zimbabwe. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2016-2020 to provide impetus to the financial inclusion of the poor, unbanked and low-income earners in Zimbabwe. However, the NFIS appears to push more for bank-led financial inclusion than it does for innovation-driven initiatives such as mobile money services. This article highlights the positive influence of mobile money services in improving financial inclusion for the poor, unbanked and low-income earners in Zimbabwe. The article also seeks to point out gaps and flaws in the financial services regulatory framework that may limit the potential of mobile money services to reach more people so that they actively participate in the Zimbabwean economy. It is submitted that the Zimbabwean mobile money services regulations and the financial regulatory framework should be carefully amended in line with the recent innovations in mobile money to adequately regulate the use of mobile money services and innovative technology to address the financial exclusion of the poor, unbanked and low-income earners in Zimbabwe.

Dual Incentives and Dual Asset Building: Policy Implications of the Hutubi Rural Social Security Loan Programme in China

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
BAORONG GUO ◽  
JIN HUANG ◽  
MICHAEL SHERRADEN ◽  
LI ZOU
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Policy Innovation ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Asset Building ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Security Funds ◽  
Policy Incentives ◽  
Building Policy

AbstractThe Hutubi Rural Social Security Loan programme is a policy innovation in a rural area of China, which loans savings in social security accounts back to peasants for them to buy assets for agricultural and other development. In contrast to the nationwide recession in rural social security, this programme has shown its success in proliferating rural social security funds and retaining social security participants. With a focus on the administrative data of the loan programme, this study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the loan programme and examine how asset building is possible for the poor when institutional incentives are offered. The findings show that when proper policy incentives are provided, poor peasants can build assets. The Hutubi programme may be a good model for other rural areas in China and other developing countries.

scholarly journals Unique aspects of the Islamic microfinance financing process

Humanomics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Permata Wulandari ◽  
Salina Kassim ◽  
Liyu Adhi Kasari Sulung ◽  
Niken Iwani Surya Putri
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Islamic Principle ◽  
Islamic Microfinance

Purpose This paper aims to highlight on the unique aspects of Islamic microfinance based on the experience of Baitul Maal Wa Tamwil (BMT) in Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach It adopts the content analysis approach and focuses on three phases of financing, namely, pre-financing, financing and post-financing using coding and model buildings. Data are collected through in-depth interview with a sample of representatives of BMTs that offer product based on Islamic principle for the poor located in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tanggerang and Bekasi (JABODETABEK), Sulawesi Selatan, Yogyakarta and Nusa Tenggara Barat (sample chosen based on the most concentrated areas of Islamic microfinance that offered product based on Islamic principles). Ultimately, a model based on the unique features of Islamic microfinance will be developed based on the findings of the content analysis. Findings The proposed model incorporates the peculiarities of the poor people in pre-financing, financing and post-financing activities of micro-financing products to serve as a reference for policy makers. The paper also found that each region has unique product preferences depending on the poor’s characteristics. Research limitations/implications This study is only conducted in four areas with BMT representation, namely, Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi (often abbreviated as JABODETABEK), Sulawesi Selatan, Yogyakarta and Nusa Tenggara Barat) in Indonesia. Despite the limited scope, the findings have wide applications to the Islamic microfinancing in general. Originality/value The paper adds value to the literature on Islamic microfinance by enabling researchers and practitioners to understand the model of three step financing (pre-financing, financing and post-financing) in Islamic microfinance in Indonesia. Although not a new issue, the paper provides the practice of pre-financing, financing and post-financing processes which may differ from the practices of Islamic microfinance in other settings because of different cultural influences unique to every region.

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