Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, Netherlands; Uganda Martyrs University, Institute of Ethics and Development Studies, Nkozi, Uganda
De Haan, L., Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague, Netherlands; Lakwo, A., Uganda Martyrs University, Institute of Ethics and Development Studies, Nkozi, Uganda
This article questions received wisdom that the benefits of microfinance start with poverty reduction and are subsequently followed by social emancipation. Taking the case of Uganda and by using a consensual people-centred relevance test to assess the impact of microfinance on poverty alleviation, microfinance is shown not to improve the well-being of microfinance clients much, with only marginal well-being gains achieved by clients. However, a subsequent (gender) power relations analysis reveals that in spite of these marginal well-being gains, women clients achieved more emancipation. The article therefore calls for a rethinking of the microfinance outreach campaign in Africa, and of the controversy between the adoption of a business or welfarist approach to microfinance, suggesting that social emancipation should be pursued in its own right rather than waiting for poverty reduction to occur first. © 2010 European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes.
