Women's participation in self‐help groups as a pathway to women's empowerment: A case of Nepal

Abstract

Non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and the government of Nepal have made some effort to reduce poverty in Nepal by creating women's affiliation groups, some of which are micro‐credit organizations. Using capabilities as defined by Amartya Sen (Development as freedom, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000), which includes employment opportunities, women's ownership in productive resources such as land and/or homes, educational opportunities, and women's participation in decision‐making in the family, this study evaluated the extent to which women's ethnic group or caste affiliation affected a woman's likelihood of being empowered by participation in these groups. We analyzed a sample of 8,973 women which was taken from the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. Previous research has demonstrated that participation in gender‐based groups is correlated with higher economic status. This study adds to the literature on women's affiliation groups by investigating the impact of structural factors, such as caste and ethnicity, on women's self‐help group participation (women's groups and credit groups).

Empowering self-help groups for caregivers of children with disabilities in Kilifi, Kenya: Impacts and their underlying mechanisms

“…Underlying mechanisms determining the outcomes appeared to relate to handling goods and money, and social ties and support. Similar to the economic and livelihood groups reported from South Asia [14,40,41], early engagement in income generation activities, involved all members in handling goods and money, whether it was small bags of maize flour and rice, or Kenyan shillings as their weekly contributions to the group. Every meeting started with collecting and recording the week's subscriptions, and whilst the elected roles of chair, secretary and treasurer led the transactions among the membership, the process involved all the members.…”

“…Self-help initiatives have been reported with a range of stakeholder groups in low and middle income countries, including caregivers of children with disabilities in Ghana [5]; mental health service users in Ghana [38] and Uganda [39]; economic and livelihood groups for women in South Asia [14,40,41]; social support for adolescents with visual impairments in Jordan [42]. Reported benefits include financial support [38,41]; social support and acceptance by other members of the family [5,41,42]; growth in confidence for self-expression and reduction in domestic abuse [43] and improved family relations [44].…”

Empowerment in agricultural value chains: Mixed methods evidence from the Philippines

“…Gendered responsibilities and time burdens may change with greater commercialization and can also impact domestic care, food production, or food security (Lyon, Mutersbaugh, and Worthen 2017;Forsythe, Martin, and Posthumus 2015;Filipski et al 2017;Arndt, Benfica, and Thurlow 2011;Shackleton et al 2011). A large body of evidence shows that women have limited access to resources and information, weaker control over assets and land, less ability to demand fair prices, and greater workload compared to men, which constrain their capacity to engage and expand into higher value agrientreprises that often require a minimum amount of resources and training (Meinzen-Dick et al 2011;Quisumbing et al 2015;Handschuch and Wollni 2015;Forsythe, Posthumus and Martin 2016).…”

“…Many studies have attempted to collect and operationalize these concepts; some focus on one or limited dimensions while others are more comprehensive. In VCs, an increasing number of studies attempt to operationalize this concept using narrative and qualitative approaches (Shackleton et al 2011;Said-Allsopp and Tallontire 2015;Forsythe, Martin, and Posthumus 2015;Akter et al 2017). This paper is the first to our knowledge to measure, quantify, and compare women's and men's empowerment within and across different agricultural VCs using both quantitative and qualitative methods.…”

"Filling everybody’s buckets": The impact of participation in community development organizations on women’s capabilities in northern British Columbia

“…The next case, a study of women's participation in self-help and microfinance groups in Nepal, had interesting results in terms of women's capabilities (Atteraya et al 2016). Nepal has a highly stratified society based on caste and ethnicity, with those in the 'lower' castes and indigenous peoples experiencing much higher rates of poverty.…”