Paper Title

AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF MICRO ENTERPRISES IN TELANGANA

Abstract

Women entrepreneurs‟ play an important role in local economies and a large percentage of micro-enterprises in developing countries are undertaken by women. Rural women frequently have primary responsibility for agricultural production, in addition to domestic responsibilities and childcare. In developing country like India where economic status of women is very pathetic especially in rural areas and opportunities of earning are very less in this scenario the Self Help Groups (SHGs) have paved the way for economic independence of rural women. This paper reviews concisely the literature in this field and addresses in particular empowerment of women through rural entrepreneurship. This paper examines the impact of micro entrepreneurship development and SHGs on women empowerment.
KEYWORDS : Empowerment, Micro Enterprise, Micro Credit, Rural Entrepreneurship, Self Help Groups, Women Entrepreneurs

Paper Title

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF MICROFINANCE IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The quest to meet the credit need of the Nigerian farmers necessitated the focus of this study. The result of Probit regression analysis showed six variables namely age of household head, caste/ethnicity, education of household head, agricultural credit, livestock unit (LSU), and annual household income were statistically significant for farmer’s participation in microfinance. Specifically, the study examined the contribution of microfinance banks (MFBs) towards agricultural development, analyzed and compared the loans given out by these banks to agricultural sector with those given to other investment activities in the study area, examined the repayment level of the various sectors and identified the constraints hindering efficient contribution of the banks to agricultural development in the stud area. Although the production, income and gross margin of rice and wheat and gross margin of livestock was found statistically higher among the farmers participating in microfinance, the expense for rice and wheat was also found significantly higher among the farmers participating in microfinance. Data obtained from ten MFBs in Kwara State were used for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The study revealed that most of the banks’ loanwere granted to trade and commerce sector while the agricultural sector obtained just about one-fifth of loan disbursement annually.
KEYWORDS : agricultural credit, commerce sector, agricultural sector, microfinance banks (MFBs), data analysis