Beneficiaries are actors too.pdf - Southern Institute of Peace ...

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Introduction Women have a central role in family upbringing and upkeep in our African community setups. In the African perspective, Xhosas say “wathint'abafazi wathint'imbogodo...” literary translating to “mistreat women, and you will have no food in the house”. This shows how, in African culture, women are regarded as pivotal in sustaining family livelihood. In the same context, supporting women in business will mean giving a livelihood to the families; but women have been disadvantaged (mistreated) in terms of access to credit and other financial services. Commercial banks and other formalised forms of finance require documentation which most of the times excludes women. Ironically, established companies are even struggling to borrow from banks given the current illiquidity within the Zimbabwean financial system. The lacklustre economic conditions has seen private sector funding of community projects dwindling (as they focus on their survival) and the government and Non Governmental Organisations' (NGOs) support narrowed as their budgets became skimpy. The real value creation in such instance is in jeopardy. The situation calls for social entrepreneurs who, it can be argued, address social needs economically. The challenge is that the social enterprises more often lack adequate capital, have limited access to conventional funding schemes and lack collateral security among many other woes. Micro financing institutions can draw funding from government, private sector, and/or their members and channel these to low income borrowers (mostly women) who often do not qualify for conventional funding. Women are actively involved in the formation of social enterprises with their only hope of source of finance for business being microfinance. It can be argued that microfinance helps empower women from poor households to make a significant contribution towards their households and economy at large. Microfinance services are considered a key development tool, particularly for women who are the target of most microfinance programs (Guérin, 2006). Of interest, Pitt and Khandker (1998) noted that the return on investment from finance awarded to women seems to better reach 7
all household members, especially improving children's health and schooling. On another note, International Labour Organisation (ILO, 2007) showed that positive environmental impact is also achievable as microfinance programmes support green jobs and renewable energy systems. This indicates that microfinance credit has a potential to help in the sustainable development of the Zimbabwean economy. However, microfinance is not easily accessed by women (social) entrepreneurs. This negatively impacts their output and thus reduces their contribution to economic growth, further derailing economic emancipation, regardless of their unwavering efforts to obtain funding. According to Nicholls (2006), social entrepreneurship is any venture that creates social value as its prime strategic objective and which addresses this mission in a creative and innovative fashion. There is great reason to hypothesise economic contribution of such activities and therefore their role in poverty alleviation, fostering sustainable livelihoods and ensuring economic empowerment, especially in Zimbabwe. There is a need to closely analyse the impact of limited access to microfinance by women on their entrepreneurial activities. This translates to also assessing the impact micro financing structures have in addressing the gap left out by conventional financing institutions. The primary purpose of this study is to determine how challenging women entrepreneurs' access to microcredit is, so that viable programming to enhance or encourage women access to finance can be best constructed. The study sought to carry out a desk review of literature and a field research (in Chinhoyi town) on both the supply and demand for microfinance by women, factors inhibiting access to finance by women, and strategies implemented by women to circumvent the limited access to finance. Based on the findings, the paper provides recommendations regarding future support to microfinance institutions/structures reaching this group, which can result in significant and sustainable women access to financial services, thereby leading to poverty alleviation, fostering sustainable livelihoods and ensuring economic empowerment. 8
Page 1 and 2: Sustainable peace and development a
Page 3 and 4: Sustainable peace and development a
Page 5 and 6: Contents Introduction: The primacy
Page 7 and 8: its work on community, with special
Page 9 and 10: in Africa. The paper highlights the
Page 11: 1 Women's access to microfinance an
Page 15 and 16: family well-being are often higher
Page 17 and 18: “[b]y plugging the gap left by th
Page 19 and 20: As at 30 July 2011 the country's ba
Page 21 and 22: analysis will also be as much infor
Page 23 and 24: not about bemoaning the limited acc
Page 25 and 26: approach the MFIs, is that “it wi
Page 27 and 28: d) Indicators of the social and eco
Page 29 and 30: Illiteracy creates a situation of d
Page 31 and 32: Disabilities: Lessons from Zambia a
Page 33 and 34: Abbreviations and acronyms CBNRM Co
Page 35 and 36: (Murindagomo, 1990). Its main appro
Page 37 and 38: percentages to the gross domestic p
Page 39 and 40: some trees were not supposed to be
Page 41 and 42: formulation will ensure their total
Page 43 and 44: the commons'. The concept of commun
Page 45 and 46: esources in these government estate
Page 47 and 48: management in Botswana and Namibia:
Page 49 and 50: Introduction This article seeks to
Page 51 and 52: esearchers come to study with backg
Page 53 and 54: the land US$750.00. Mudzi laid the
Page 55 and 56: case the chief's court sought the t
Page 57 and 58: The chief's personality This influe
Page 59 and 60: process of reporting a case is too
Page 61 and 62: and implies that offenders should r
Page 63 and 64:
Cases reported to Chief Chounda bet
Page 65 and 66:
4 The role of Indigenous Knowledge
Page 67 and 68:
enlarging the range of their choice
Page 69 and 70:
this also served to promote food se
Page 71 and 72:
development strategies in Africa sh
Page 73 and 74:
countries seriously questioned why
Page 75 and 76:
especting their realities and prior
Page 77 and 78:
competing knowledge systems, charac
Page 79 and 80:
impressive in transforming poor peo
Page 81 and 82:
must be recognised if it is to be i
Page 83 and 84:
implications for sustainable conser
Page 85 and 86:
Pretty, J. N. (1994) Alternative sy
Page 87 and 88:
Introduction The United Nations Edu
Page 89 and 90:
Science educators have failed in th
Page 91 and 92:
education in this historical era th
Page 93 and 94:
esult may be disastrous. The HIV an
Page 95 and 96:
affairs and ultimately the adoption
Page 97 and 98:
esources, increasing green house ef
Page 99 and 100:
years, and yet it is less than 100
Page 101 and 102:
Fuchs, S. (2000) A social theory of
Page 103 and 104:
6 Re-examining the role of NGOs in
Page 105 and 106:
that NGOs are involved in when tryi
Page 107 and 108:
to see the causes of conflict as go
Page 109 and 110:
which the oil is located are disgru
Page 111 and 112:
communities putting into question t
Page 113 and 114:
The controversies surrounding NGOs'
Page 115 and 116:
conflict ridden African states, whe
Page 117 and 118:
in resolving conflict and peace bui
Page 119 and 120:
Recommendations To work effectively
Page 121 and 122:
Juma, M.K. (2008) Conflict Preventi
Page 123 and 124:
Introduction The Zimbabwean land re
Page 125 and 126:
Government or private agencies. Thi
Page 127 and 128:
credit facilities, new farmers in Z
Page 129 and 130:
control 49 percent in any business
Page 131 and 132:
implementation of investment progra
Page 133 and 134:
the ice-berg. Disadvantaged areas m
Page 135 and 136:
eventual agreement on the implement
Page 137 and 138:
they are simply recipients of polic
Page 139 and 140:
the government embarks on a nationw
Page 141 and 142:
farm ownership in the country. The
Page 143 and 144:
8 Community-driven conflict resolut
Page 145 and 146:
approximately 800,000 Rwandans and
Page 147 and 148:
their mediation skills.” The cell
Page 149 and 150:
well as centre-periphery thesis whi
Page 151 and 152:
justice In the post-genocide era, t
Page 153 and 154:
marginalized and disenfranchised fr
Page 155 and 156:
summarized and simplified versions
Page 157 and 158:
In Rwanda for example, citizens cou
Page 159 and 160:
Although the use of carrot and stic
Page 161 and 162:
abunzi and the formal system beckon
Page 163 and 164:
Kauzya, John-Mary. (2007) Political
Page 165 and 166:
Conclusion All through the papers,
Page 167 and 168:
About the editor Samuel Maruta is t
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