Bekele Abraham Diro, 2Dereje Getachew Regasa
Micro credit has been found to be a critical instrument in order to improve the livelihood of poor people. It is prominently used to improve the livelihood of urban household borrowers where it is believed to be under exploited in research hence is indispensible to examine its real effectiveness. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the impact of Dedebit Credit and Saving Institution’s (DECSI) micro credit service on the livelihood of household borrowers residing in Mekelle city. For the purpose of assessing the impact of DECSI microcredit on the livelihood of borrower households, a sample of 287 respondents (that is, 118 clients who have at least 3 years of attachment to the organization and 169 eligible non participants representing the characteristics of existing sample borrowers had they not been participating. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires that were prepared and distributed for both clients and eligible non clients and interview was conducted while the questionnaires were filled out by the respondents. The result of the study displayed that microcredit participation has a positive significant average effect on households’ average monthly income, consumption expenditure, savings and housing improvements. However, the number of employment generated to and out of household members showed no difference. Whereas, the average effect on children education and medical care expenditure are positively changed in the study area and sample. Thus, government authorities, NGOs, aid agencies and other stakeholders who are concerned with microfinance as a means to poverty reduction should take in to consideration the results of these indicator variables for better promotion of microfinance in general and microcredit in particular
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