MICROFINANCE AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA: A Critical Assessment

2012 ◽  
Vol 02 (04) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Cecilia A. Nwigwe ◽  
B. T. Omonona ◽  
Victor O. Okoruwa
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Employment Creation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Innovative Management

This paper attempts to provide a critical assessment of microfinance as a strategy for poverty reduction in Nigeria. It argues that while microfinance has developed some innovative management and business strategies, its impact on poverty reduction remains in doubt. Microfinance, however, certainly plays an important role in providing safety-net and consumption smoothening. However, for any significant dent on poverty, the focus of public policy should be on growth-oriented and equity-enhancing programs, such as broad-based productive employment creation. There is also need to design financial sustainable models that increases outreach and scale up operations for the poor. More so, financial inclusion agenda should be considered and adopted in a concerted manner.

Financial Inclusion in India

2016 ◽  
pp. 95-104
Author(s):  
Rohit Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
The World

The concept of Financial Inclusion is not a new one. It has become a catchphrase now and has attracted the global attention in the recent past. Lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate financial services has always been a global problem. It is estimated that about 2.9 billion people around the world do not have access to formal sources of banking and financial services. India is said to live in its villages, a convincing statement, considering that nearly 72% of our population lives there. However, a significant proportion of our 650,000 odd villages does not have a single bank branch to boast of, leaving swathes of the rural population in financial exclusion. RBI has reported that the financial exclusion in India leads to the loss of GDP to the extent of one per cent (RBI, Working Paper Series (DEPR): 8/2011). Financially excluded people, consistently, depend on money lenders even for their day to day needs, borrowing at excessive rates to finally get caught in a debt trap. In addition, people in far-off villages are completely unaware of financial products like insurance, which could protect them in adverse situation. Therefore, financial inclusion is a big necessity for our country as a large chunk of the world's poor resides here. Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. Present paper is an attempt to highlight the present efforts of financial inclusion in India its future road map, its challenges etc.

scholarly journals ANALISIS FINANCIAL INCLUSION TERHADAP PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT MISKIN DI MEDAN (STUDI KASUS PEMBIAYAAN MIKRO SS II DI BANK SUMUT SYARIAH)

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hairatunnisa Nasution ◽  
Yasir Nasution ◽  
Muhammad Yafiz
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Lofty Goal ◽  
Inclusion Theory ◽  
Islamic Economic ◽  
Economic Understanding

This research aims to analyze the financial inclusion towards the empowerment of the poor in Medan through financing Sumut Sejahtera of the Bank Sumut Syariah. More specifically the research aims to know 1) the concept of financial inclusion that is implemented as a means of expanding access to financial services of banks and non-banks, 2) the application of the financial inclusion  Bank Sumut Syariah. Bank Sumt Syariah have significant role in the economic development of the community through a variety of financing micro, Financing of the Sumut Sejahtera. This financing facility has a lofty goal given to the community pre-prosperous society who have a business but not bankable feasibility so as to be worthy of being a customer of the bank, as well a improve people’s lives and help government programs in the framework of poverty reduction. The applicaton of financial inclusion on the financing Sumut Sejahtera of the Bank Sumut Syariah has been very clear benefits in the economic society prosper who enforce the interests for the public good. It is a basic principle in Islamic economic maqashid al-syariah. For financial inclusion theory maqashid al-syariah is one of the logical effort that must be applied as a consequence of the economic understanding of justice on one side and of religious on the other side.

Financial Inclusion in India

2020 ◽  
pp. 559-568
Author(s):  
Rohit Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Working Paper ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
The World

The concept of Financial Inclusion is not a new one. It has become a catchphrase now and has attracted the global attention in the recent past. Lack of accessible, affordable and appropriate financial services has always been a global problem. It is estimated that about 2.9 billion people around the world do not have access to formal sources of banking and financial services. India is said to live in its villages, a convincing statement, considering that nearly 72% of our population lives there. However, a significant proportion of our 650,000 odd villages does not have a single bank branch to boast of, leaving swathes of the rural population in financial exclusion. RBI has reported that the financial exclusion in India leads to the loss of GDP to the extent of one per cent (RBI, Working Paper Series (DEPR): 8/2011). Financially excluded people, consistently, depend on money lenders even for their day to day needs, borrowing at excessive rates to finally get caught in a debt trap. In addition, people in far-off villages are completely unaware of financial products like insurance, which could protect them in adverse situation. Therefore, financial inclusion is a big necessity for our country as a large chunk of the world's poor resides here. Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. Present paper is an attempt to highlight the present efforts of financial inclusion in India its future road map, its challenges etc.

scholarly journals Local Knowledge, Public Policy and Poverty Reduction: A Review on Indonesia Experiences

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 04002
Author(s):  
Bayu Taufiq Possumah ◽  
Zikri Muhammad ◽  
Jaharudin Padli ◽  
Jasmi Abu Talib ◽  
Kamarul Md. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Multidimensional Problems

The community based Local knowledge, basically is an adaptation strategies that arise from within the community itself in fixing socially problem related to the life of society itself. Since local knowledge is the result of interaction between the community and the environment, it is needed to help the community living independently. Hence the local knowledge is the core of efforts to reduce poverty that exists and grows in the community and as the big part of from the process of poverty alleviation programs. The complexity of poverty not only can be overcome by purely economic approach, but it is associated with the dynamics of social, political and cultural that inherent in a community. The multidimensional problems requires synergy between government policy, community and local knowledge itself. This paper attempts to describes the frameworks of Indonesian policy to link the three sectors to empower the poor exit from poverty problem

scholarly journals Landscape of Enhanced Access to Social Protection, Safety Nets and Increased Resilience in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismat Ara Begum ◽  
Rezaul Karim Talukder ◽  
Mohammad Mizanul Haque Kazal ◽  
Mohammad Jahangir Alam
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Security Strategy ◽  
Government Investment ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Government

Social protection is an essential government investment that contributes to economic growth and makes growth more pro-poor through directly reducing poverty. The Government is strongly committed to reducing poverty, improving human development and reducing inequality. This commitment is reflected in Vision 2021, the Perspective Plan 2010–2021 and in the Sixth & Seventh Five Year Plans. The Government realizes that notwithstanding the past impressive progress with poverty reduction, there is a substantial number of populations that remains exposed to poverty owing to various vulnerabilities. Evidence shows that the poor and vulnerable group cannot cope with all the frequently occurring risks and shocks with their own resources. In recognition of these concerns, the Government has embarked upon the formulation of a comprehensive National Social Security Strategy. It builds on the past rich experience and seeks to streamline and strengthen the existing safety net programs. It also broadens the scope of Social Security from the narrow safety net concept to include employment policies and social insurance to address the emerging needs. Given this backdrop, this chapter deals with the assessment of social security interventions against Life Cycle Risks, measures for resilience of safety net programs, and finally presents the government priorities based on existing policies.

Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jock R. Anderson ◽  
Regina Birner ◽  
Latha Najarajan ◽  
Anwar Naseem ◽  
Carl E. Pray
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Agricultural Research And Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Private agricultural research and development can foster the growth of agricultural productivity in the diverse farming systems of the developing world comparable to the public sector. We examine the extent to which technologies developed by private entities reach smallholder and resource-poor farmers, and the impact they have on poverty reduction. We critically review cases of successfully deployed improved agricultural technologies delivered by the private sector in both large and small developing countries for instructive lessons for policy makers around the world.

scholarly journals On-farm trees are a safety net for the poorest households rather than a major contributor to food security in Rwanda

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Ndoli ◽  
Athanase Mukuralinda ◽  
Antonius G. T. Schut ◽  
Miyuki Iiyama ◽  
Jean Damascene Ndayambaje ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Income Sources ◽  
Agroforestry Practice ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Agroforestry Practices

AbstractThe world is challenged to meet the food demand of a growing population, especially in developing countries. Given the ambitious plans to scale up agroforestry in Africa, an improved understanding of the effect of agroforestry practices on the already challenged food security of rural households is crucial. The present study was undertaken to assess how on-farm trees impacted food security in addition to other household income sources in Rwanda. In each of the six agroecologies of Rwanda, a stratified sampling procedure was used where two administrative cells (4th formal administrative level) were selected in which households were randomly selected for interviews. A survey including 399 farmers was conducted and farmers were grouped in three types of agroforestry practice (i) low practitioners (LAP) represented by the first tertile, (ii) medium practitioners (MAP) represented by the second tertile and (iii) high practitioners (HAP) represented by the third tertile of households in terms of tree number. Asset values, household income sources, crop production, farm size, crop yield, and food security (food energy needs) were quantified among the types of agroforestry practice. A larger proportion of HAP households had access to adequate quantity and diversity of food when compared with MAP and LAP households. Food security probability was higher for households with more resources, including land, trees and livestock, coinciding with an increased crop and livestock income. We found no difference in asset endowment among types of agroforestry practices, while farmers in agroecologies with smaller farms (0.42 ha to 0.66 ha) had more on-farm trees (212 to 358 trees per household) than farms in agroecologies with larger farms (0.96 ha to 1.23 ha) which had 49 to 129 trees per household, probably due to differences in biophysical conditions. A positive association between tree density and food security was found in two out of six agroecologies. The proportion of income that came from tree products was high (> 20%) for a small fraction of farmers (12%), with the more food insecure households relying more on income from tree products than households with better food security status. Thus, tree income can be percieved as a “safety net” for the poorest households.

In-cash Transfers: from Passive to Empowered Beneficiaries in the Global South

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Katarina Pitasse Fragoso
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Public Services ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Public Policy Decisions

Over the last few years, there has been an increase in discussions advocating in-cash programmes as a way to alleviate poverty. Indeed, this represents a leap forward in comparison to in-kind programmes. However, little progress, at least in developing countries, has been achieved in answering the question of how the state should transfer the means of redressing deprivation to those who are living in poverty. This article addresses this issue by challenging anti-poverty programmes through a social-egalitarian framework. My main argument starts from the perspective that in-cash transfers are a necessary but not sufficient mechanism for poverty alleviation. I acknowledge that cash alone does not guarantee the poor an equally active role in influencing the public-policy decisions that affect their lives. I then suggest a participatory device to complement the cash-transfer proposal in order to give institutional opportunities to the poor to decide, together with practitioners, what should be done at the level of local public services.

Assessing the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program as a conditional income transfer: a search for a conceptual framework

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alhassan Abdul-Wakeel Karakara ◽  
Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Poor

Purpose Ghana has implemented different kinds of pro-poor program and policies since its independence to reduce poverty. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is one of such program. LEAP is a social cash transfer program and its implementation has been under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection since 2008. It provides direct cash and health insurance coverage for extremely poor households across the country to alleviate short-term poverty and encourage long-term human capital development. This paper examines the LEAP program in terms of how it has achieved its aim and the opportunities for improvement.Design/methodology/approach Primary data were obtained from interviews of 110 beneficiaries of the program. The study proposes a conceptual framework that links poverty reduction and social policies to assist researchers analyze pro-poor or social cash transfer program.Findings The findings show that the program is challenged with administrative bureaucracies, irregular inflow of funds, perceived political interferences, inconsistent implementation strategies and low value of the cash transfer (which results in little or no impact on consumption). However, the data also show that LEAP has positive impacts on nonconsumption spending like children's schooling. The program' exit strategy does not impact much on beneficiaries to allow them exit without the tendency of being poor.Practical implications This paper discussed the LEAP program as a social cash transfer to the poor in Ghana. The study constructed a conceptual framework to help researchers and practitioners analyze the implementation of pro-poor interventions. This conceptualization allows for cash transfer program to empower beneficiaries and exits them to allow for other beneficiaries to enroll, ensuring reduction in poverty over time. Generally, the beneficiaries have benefited from the LEAP in the areas of consumption, education and healthcare with few beneficiaries being able to accumulate some few assets. The LEAP program has no exit plan.Originality/value This study adds to literature by offering a conceptual framework to help researchers and policy makers in dealing with social assistance policies to the poor. The study also gave an insight into how pro-poor policy strategies could be crafted.

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