Impact Of Microfinance Services On Rural Women’s Empowerment In The Southern Senatorial District Of Adamawa State, Nigeria

• Isa Zaphaniah

  Department of Sociology, University of Jos, Plateau State

  Author

• Kachollom C. Best

  Department of Sociology, University of Jos, Plateau State

  Author

• Plangshak M. Suchi

  Department of Sociology, University of Jos, Plateau State

  Author

This study examined the impact of microfinance services on rural women’s empowerment in the Southern Senatorial District of Adamawa State, Nigeria, and identified strategies for enhancing access to microfinance services. The study was motivated by persistent challenges of poverty, financial exclusion, and limited access to productive resources, and sociocultural barriers that continue to limit women’s empowerment in rural communities. Anchored on Empowerment Theory, the study adopted a pragmatic philosophical approach and employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods research design. The study was conducted in Ganye, Mayo-Belwa, and Numan Local Government Areas in the Southern Senatorial District of Adamawa State. A sample of 421 respondents was selected through multistage sampling techniques, while data were collected using structured questionnaires, key informant interviews (KIIs), and focus group discussions (FGDs). Of the questionnaires administered, 406 were valid and analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression, while qualitative data were analysed thematically with NVivo 14. Findings revealed that microfinance services significantly enhanced rural women’s empowerment through increased access to microcredit facilities, savings programmes, entrepreneurship opportunities, financial literacy, and participation in major household and community decisions. Regression results indicated that access to microcredit facilities (β = .331, p < .001), savings programmes (β = .287, p < .001), financial literacy and management skills (β = .195, p = .001), and microentrepreneurship training (β = .148, p < .05) had significant positive effects on empowerment. The model explained 27.9% of the variance in empowerment outcomes (R² = .279, F = 51.890, p = .001). The study further identified financial literacy training and simplified loan procedures, digital banking services and flexible repayment terms, group lending mechanisms and reduced collateral requirements, enhanced property rights and community sensitisation, government support and institutional capacity building as critical strategies for improving access to microfinance services. The study concluded that microfinance services are important drivers of rural women’s empowerment and recommended the expansion of gender-responsive financial products, digital financial inclusion initiatives, and capacity-building programmes to promote sustainable rural development. 

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