Microcredit and empowerment among women cloth dyers of Bamako, Mali

Since the 1990s, microcredit programs have been increasingly marketed as an effective means of poverty reduction. Microcredit programs provide small loans and savings opportunities to those who traditionally have been excluded from commercial financial services. Microcredit programs have also been cited as an effective way to reduce hunger and malnutrition. Health-related issues have been mentioned as a factor preventing poor women from participating in microcredit programs (Evans, Adams, Mohammed & Norris, 1998). In Mali, the research site for this study, some women refer to health issues as their reason for not participating in a microcredit program.;This study's objective is to assess whether or not women were empowered to make behavioral changes as a result of their participation in a microcredit program. Qualitative research methods were used in identifying strategies these entrepreneurial women employed to manage their work and care for themselves and their families. Conceivably, this baseline study will expand our cultural and medical understanding of how Malian families are impacted by disease and illness, and how this impact affects women's economic decision-making. Scholars, researchers and development practitioners need to broaden the present development discourse about how global health and nutritional issues impact poor women's economic capacity. A broader scope would logically support the need for a more integrative approach using microcredit programs in conjunction with other intervention services as a comprehensive approach in helping to eradicate poverty in Africa.