Empowering Women Entrepreneurs through Microcredit: Assessing the Role of Sarhad Rural Support Program in Pakistan
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs through Microcredit: Assessing the Role of Sarhad Rural Support Program in Pakistan

Summary/Abstract: Microcredit has been recognized as an effective tool to foster entrepreneurship among rural women. Traditionally, Pakistani women would be reluctant to start-up a new business, due to an absence of capital and fear of failure. With the state agencies and private companies introducing credit schemes for women on low incomes and at low interest rates, many Pakistani women are now establishing new businesses. This paper intends to examine the role of Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) in empowering women entrepreneurs through microcredit in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The study was undertaken in six villages from three selected districts to examine the effect of microcredit on social and economic empowerment of rural women entrepreneurs. The field data was collected by applying multistage sampling techniques from a sample size of 300 women entrepreneurs. However, a social and economic empowerment index was developed for the assessment of women’s socioeconomic empowerment. The study found significant improvement in the social and economic status of women entrepreneurs and concludes that the overall effect of SRSP’s microcredit was positive in empowering women entrepreneurships in the study area.

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