Women Empowerment at Household Level and Access to FINCA Microfinance Services in Jinja Municipality, Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to find out the contribution of access to microfinance services on women empowerment at household level in Jinja Municipality, Uganda. The specific objectives were; to establish the level of women access to microfinance service in Jinja Municipality; to determine the level of women empowerment in Jinja Municipality and to find out the contribution of women access to microfinance to women empowerment in Jinja Municipality. The research was carried out between May and June, 2017. The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches and specifically employed a comparative research design. The main instrument used in the field was a self administered questionnaire, and other sources included informal interviews and document analysis. Data analysis was both descriptive and inferential. Based on the multinomial analysis (AOR = 1.985, CI = 1.152 - 3.326), women who were accessing microfinance services through FINCA were 2 times likely to be highly empowered compared to women who did not access any microfinance services. The findings revealed that one avenue of women empowerment is through efficient microfinance service delivery. The Gender feminist theory was upheld since it suggested that effective route to women empowerment is through microfinance institutions. The study recommends that microfinance services should be promoted by government and other stakeholders.