RESEARCH PROPOSAL SAMPLE - BY MUTALE TRICIA

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
IMPACT OF MICRO FINANCE INSTITUTIONS ON WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT IN ZAMBIA
By Mutale Tricia Bwalya

BackgroundInformation

MicroFinanceInstitutions(MFIs)areorganizationswhich
wereoriginallysetupinordertohelpfinancethosesmall
scalemicroenterprisesandlocaleconomicactivitieswhich
werelargelyexcludedfromformalfinanceandmainstream
bankingpractice.However,inSubSaharanAfrica,micro
financeisnotyetwidespreadandmostlowincomeearners,
includingmanyofthepoor,cannotaccessfinancialservices
(CGAP, 2009; Spencer & Wood, 2005) while poverty is
officiallywidespreadandacute(WorldBank,2009).

There are also significant disparities in the level of

development and performance across different countries
(MIX,2010).Whilethedevelopedmicrofinanceinstitutions
(MFIs)ofSouthAsiaandLatinAmericaarechallengedto
becomemorecommerciallyviable,emergingoftendonor
dependent MFIs in subSaharan Africa can struggle to
survive.Inexperiencedstaff,questionableworkingpractices,
poorinternalcontrols,substandardgovernance(Mersland
and Strom, 2009; Hartarska, 2005) and inadequate
managementinformationsystemsallcontributetoAfrican
MFI underperformance (CGAP, 2009). In Zambia, for
example,alackofcompetentandskilledhumancapitalhas
beenidentifiedasaparticularfailingploblemfacingmicro
institutionsinZambia(MicrofinanceAfrica,May2010).

In Zambia, Siwale (2006) previously scrutinized Christian

EnterpriseTrustofZambia(CETZAM)snearcollapseand
observedhowitssubsequentrestructuringembracedpolicy
andseniormanagement,productdiversification,andfurther
grassroots staff changes in branches. Similarly, Moroccan
MFIswerefoundtolackthenecessaryskills,knowledgeand
experience with some being accused of fraud and
embezzlement of depositors funds. Studies elsewhere
suggestthatmanycrisesarenotjustrandom,oneoffevents
apart,butoriginateinserious,andmaybealsopotentially
predictableand/oravoidable,managementandintelligence
failings(Vaughan,1996).UnderperformanceshadowsMFI
development in Southern Africa (Lafourcade, Isern,
Mwangi,&Brown,2005;Chiumya,2006;Dixon,etal,2007)
and formal evaluations of impact assessment, program
replication, client outreach and financial sustainability
(Copestake,2002)typicallysuggestthatprogressherelags
significantlybehindthatwhichhasbeenclaimedforSouth
AsiaandLatinAmerica(MIX,2010;Basu,Blavy,&Yulek,
2004).

1.2StatementoftheProblem

Despite many international agreements affirming their

humanrights,womenarestillmuchmorelikelythanmento
be poor and illiterate. They usually have less access than
men to medical care, property ownership, credit, training
and employment. They are far less likely than men to be
politically active and far more likely to be victims of
domesticviolence.

Therefore the study is aimed at examining the impact of

Micro Finance Institutions on women empowerment in
Zambia.
1.3HYPOTHESIS

IthasbeenhypothisedthatmicroFinanceInstitutionsare
ineffectiveinempoweringwomeninZambia.

LITERATUREREVIEW

The roles that men and women play in society are not
biologically determined they are socially determined,
changingandchangeable.Althoughtheymaybejustifiedas
beingrequiredbycultureorreligion,theserolesvarywidely
bylocalityandchangeovertime.GirlGuideAssociationhas
foundthatapplyingculturallysensitiveapproachescanbe
keytoadvancingwomensrightswhilerespectingdifferent
formsofsocialorganization.

Addressing womens issues also requires recognizing that

womenareadiversegroup,intherolestheyplayaswellas
incharacteristicssuchasage,socialstatus,urbanorrural
orientation and educational attainment. Although women
mayhavemanyinterestsincommon,thefabricoftheirlives
and the choices available to them may vary widely. Girl
GuideAssociationseekstoidentifygroupsofwomenwho
aremostmarginalizedandvulnerable(womenrefugees,for
example,orthosewhoareheadsofhouseholdsorlivingin
extremepoverty),sothatinterventionsaddresstheirspecific
needsandconcerns.Thistaskisrelatedtothecriticalneed
for sexdisaggregated data, and UNFPA helps countries
buildcapacityinthisareaofWomenEmpowermentandin
thepromotionofallrightsforall.

Empowermentofwomenhasbeenidentifiedasavaluable
attribute,onethatisessentialtotheeffectivefunctioningof
an organization (Palmier, 1998). Theoretical discussions
about structural power and its relationship to the
developmentofempowermentinemployeesareabundantin
theliterature(Kanter,1993;Kluska,LaschingerSpence&
Kerr, 2004; Sui, Laschinger & Vingilis, 2006).
Empowerment has also been shown to be essential to the
goalsandoutcomesofsharedgovernancemodels(Anthony,
2004; Erickson, Hamilton, Jones & Ditomassi, 2003).
Empowermentisevidencedbyorganizationalmemberswho
are inspired and motivated to make meaningful
contributions and who have the confidence that their
contributionswillberecognizedandvalued.

ImpactoflackofwomenEmpowermentinZambia

As women are generally the poorest of the poor ...

eliminating social, cultural, political and economic
discrimination against women is a prerequisite of
eradicating poverty in the context of sustainable
development.InternationalConferenceonPopulationand
Development(ICPD)ProgrammeofAction,1994.

ThethirdMillenniumDevelopmentGoal(MDG),promoting
genderequalityandtheempowermentofwomen,hasgiven
prominencetorecenteffortstotargetgenderedpoverty.
Genderedpovertyistherecognitionthatwomenandmen
facepovertyfordifferentreasonsandbothexperienceand
respondtoitdifferently.

Studieshaverevealedthattheindicatorsofeducationand
literacy,themetricsusedtomeasureprogresstowardsMDG
3, do not sufficiently capture gendered poverty or gender
disparities.Therearemanyotherfactorsthatinfluencethe
statusofwomen,suchasincome,reproductivehealthand
environmental and socio cultural constraints. Bradshaw
andLingerer(2003,inChant,2003)listthreefactorsthat
contribute to the relative poverty of women: (1) women
generallyhavefeweropportunitiestotransformworkinto
income, (2) women still have limited decisionmaking
authority,and(3)whenwomenactuallydomakedecisions,
theytendtoactforthebenefitofothersfirst.

MicrofinanceinaZambianContext
Zambian MFIs donor dependence (Bateman,2010) has
potentially serious implications. For example, Musona
(2002),Chiumya(2006),andDixonetal(2007)revealhow
relativelyhighoperatingcosts,delinquencyanddefault,low
client intake/retention, potential fraud, and high staff
turnoverimpedesustainability,andmuchvauntedoutreach
levels have been lagging behind East Africa for example.
Thishighdependenceondonorfundsthatcanbefoundin
many sectors in Zambia is particularly damaging in
microfinance, where financial sustainability is of
fundamentalimportance.

Indeed, many face important management and corporate

governance challenges. Major Zambian MFIs, except for
FINCA,havestruggledtoreachdesiredclientnumbers(fig
1.0). As early as 2002, certain donor driven MFIs
nevertheless maintained that marketbased approaches
couldtransformthissituationeventhoughmostZambian
MFIswereonlyjustfoundedinthelate1990s(Siwale,2006).
Sincethenmicrofinancehasnotgrowninlinewithoutside
expectation (see figure 1.0 regarding major MFIs) and
Chiumya(2006)indeedidentifiedrisingsignsofitspossible
stagnationandcontraction.ThePZcaseisthereforebroadly
emblematic of microfinance development at large and
indicativeofthethreatsposedtoit.

ZambianMFIsmightpotentiallyprovidemuchneeded,but
hithertoscarce,financialservicesinacountrywhere,even
by prevailing standards, access remains extremely low
(FinScope,2010;MattooandPayton,2007).TheAssociation
of Microfinance Institutions of Zambia (AMIZ) has
estimated that the industrys outreach is in the region of
250,000to300,000activeborrowers(largelyduetoaninflux
of new consumption based MFIs). 19 out of 25 licensed
MFIsfoundedinthelast5yearshaveindeedbeenexpressly
consumerlendingbased.SincetheseMFIsdonotemphasize
small scale enterprise development they simply require
formal employment before making a loan. However, an
estimated60,000borrowersoccupythesameenterpriseloan
marketnicheinwhichPZoperated.Additionally,thescope
of services has also been particularly limited, with little
savings mobilization to date (Dixon, Ritchie, & Siwale,
2006).

Thelawhoweverhaschangedfollowingthe2006Banking
and Financial Services (microfinance) Regulations Act
whichhasenabledMFIstomobilizefurtherpublicdeposits
and savings. According to BOZ out of 25 licensed
institutionshavebeengranteddeposittakinglicenses.More
importantly,theActhasestablishedgovernancerulesand
formalaccountabilitychannelswiththecentralbank,sothat
MFIsmightevolveintolimitedcompanieswithidentifiable
shareholders(AMIZmagazine,June2010).However,there
is as yet little serious empirical study of Zambian
microfinance, where institutional performance data is still
considered proprietary, and remains difficult to access
MicroFinance.Enhanceddisclosuremightrevealmorebut,
so far, the few impact studies have concentrated upon
CETZAM (Cheston, et al., 2000; Copestake et al. 2001;
Copestake, 2002), except for Copestake, Bhalotra and
Johnsons (1998) study of the PeriUrban Lusaka Small
Enterprise (PULSE). No similar impact studies have been
conductedonMicroFinanceinstitutions.

METHODOLOGY

StudyDesign

The study will use both the qualitative and quantitative

designsinwhichwillusegraphicalpresentationofobserved
phenomenaordertogiveaccurateinformationontheimpact
of micro finance institutions in women empowerment in
Kabwe, Zambia. The process will depict the prevailing
situationusingrandomsamplingmethod.

Samplesize
Thesamplesizewillcompriseof50respondentsthatwill
comprise of 40 Women running micro finance businesses,
FINCAfieldOfficersandManagementmembers.

TargetPopulation

TheresearchintendstocoverWomenwhowillbecurrently
beneficiaries of FINCA Loans, FINCA Field Officers and
StaffmembersinKabwe,Zambia.

DataCollection

Bothprimaryandsecondarydatawillbeusedincollecting
information.

DataCollectionInstruments

InterviewGuide
This will cover a wide range of questions on women
empowermentandmicroFinance.Itwillbedesignedand
administeredtothosewhowillbewillingtobeinterviewed
attheirownconvenienttime.

Questionnaires

Itwillbeusedindatacollectionwhereitwillnotbepossible
tomeetalltherespondentsatonepoint.

SamplingProcedures

Thesimplerandomsamplingprocedureswillbeusedinthis
research for its high degree of representatives. In this
particularcase,arotarymethodofsamplingwillsapplies.In
an attempt to choose 40 women from different groups
withoutbias.
DataAnalysis

Analysisofdatawillbedonebyusinggraphs,barcharts
andpiechartsshowingresponsesfromparticipants.

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APPENDIXSECTION

AmastudentattheWomensUniversityinAfrica,Harare,
Zimbabwedoingmyfinalyearproject.Iamconductinga
studyinKabweontheimpactofmicrofinanceinstitutions
onwomenempowermentinKabwe,Zambia.

Youhavebeenrandomlyselectedtoanswerafewquestions
on this topic. Be assured that all responses given will be
treated with utmost confidentiality and privacy. This
exerciseispurelyforacademicpurposes.