“Strategic Framing Work(s): How Microcredit Loans Facilitate Anti-Witch-Hunt Movements,” by Soma Chaudhuri and Anuradha Chakravarty; published by Mobilization; June 2012; 19 pages; available at: https://vaw.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/chaudhuri_2012_micro-credit.pdf
This publication summarizes a study of microfinance and its effect on witch hunts in the town of Jalpaiguri in the Indian state of West Bengal. The seven-month study examined self-help groups of eight to ten local women who were participating in a government program that provided entrepreneurial loans of approximately INR 750 (USD 18). The authors of the study found that women participating in the self-help groups have been influential in stopping attacks against women in the town. Witch hunts, which sometimes occur as a reaction to illness or death within the community, often result in the murder of the women accused of being witches. In one case, self-help group members formed a vigil outside the house of a woman accused of being a witch and stopped village members from attacking her. The authors state that increased mobilization against these witch hunts by members of the self-help groups is most likely possible if two conditions are met: (1) leaders of the self-help groups are able to “tap into” the groups’ potential for collective action, and (2) these activists can “use strategic framing to present an argument about the congruence of microcredit and anti-witch-hunt goals.”
“A Simple Poverty Scorecard for Myanmar,” by Mark Schreiner, released July 2012, 152 pages, available at: http://www.microfinance.com/English/Papers/Scoring_Poverty_Myanmar_EN_2009.pdf
This document presents a poverty “scorecard” that can be used to estimate whether a household in Myanmar lives on an income lower than USD 1.25 per day. The scorecard was developed using Myanmar’s 2009 – 2010 Integrated Household Living Conditions Assessment (IHLCA) and includes ten questions that are designed to be quick for field workers to collect and verify. Questions include the number of members in the household, the highest level of education of the heads of household, building materials of the house and appliances used in the house. The publication describes how the scorecard can be used to track changes in poverty over time and target services for poor people in the country. This and similar scorecards for other countries form the basis for the Progress out of Poverty Index used by the US-based nonprofit Grameen Foundation.
“What are clients doing post the AP MFI crisis?”; by Anjaneyulu Ballem, Denny George, et al; May 2012; 5 pages; available at: http://microsave.net/sites/files/technicalBriefs/policybrief/PB_5_What_Clients_Do_Post_AP_MFI_Crisis.pdf
This brief examines a study analyzing the impact on microfinance institution (MFI) clients of the downturn in the microfinance sector that occurred in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in 2010. The research team used focus group discussions and other “participatory” research methods, relative preference ranking and financial sector trend analysis during July and August 2011 in three regions of Andhra Pradesh: Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra. Government officials, bank officials and field staff were interviewed as were MFI borrowers. Approximately 60 percent of MFI borrowers included in the study had taken loans from moneylenders as MFIs were offering little if any credit after the crisis. In 66 percent of the participatory research sessions, participants said high interest rates charged by moneylenders and daily finance corporations were the greatest obstacle to taking out loans, followed by inadequate loan size. Approximately 90 percent of respondents expressed willingness to repay their pre-crisis loans from MFIs if other clients also repaid and MFIs began disbursing new loans. When asked about the competitiveness of MFIs, respondents said they liked the short loan processing times as well as the relatively low interest rates and “doorstep delivery.” Although many clients stated they dislike the group responsibility model and the lack of flexibility in loan repayments. The authors finish the brief with recommendations of how MFIs, regulators and state government might boost the sector in the future.
By Charlotte Newman, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources:
“Strategic Framing Work(s): How Microcredit Loans Facilitate Anti-Witch-Hunt Movements,”
http://mobilization.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=searcharticlesresults,1,1
“A Simple Poverty Scorecard for Myanmar,” http://www.microfinance.com/English/Papers/Scoring_Poverty_Myanmar_EN_2009.pdf
“What are clients doing post the AP MFI crisis?” http://microsave.net/sites/files/technicalBriefs/policybrief/PB_5_What_Clients_Do_Post_AP_MFI_Crisis.pdf
MicroCapital.org story, May 17, 2012, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kenyan Boma Project Certified on Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-kenyan-boma-project-certified-on-grameen-foundations-progress-out-of-poverty-index/
MicroCapital.org story, August 22, 2012, “MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance Apexes; Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic; Selling Microinsurance,” https://www.microcapital.org/microfinance-publication-round-up-microfinance-apexes-confessions-of-a-microfinance-heretic-selling-microinsurance/
MicroCapital.org story, February 8, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Risk Management Development ‘Simple Poverty Scorecard for Jordan,’ Expanding Range of ‘Progress Out of Poverty’ Index,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-microfinance-risk-management-develops-simple-poverty-scorecard-for-jordan-expanding-range-of-progress-out-of-poverty-index/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Grameen Foundation
http://microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Grameen+Foundation
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