The village-based microfinance approach Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) has been implemented in developing countries for three decades, and is found to be an effective tool in alleviating poverty and facilitating access to financial services in rural areas.  This study, done in collaboration with Vi Agroforestry, aimed to investigate the impact of VSLA activities on female empowerment in Rwanda, and more specifically, how women's access to and control over assets have been affected by VSLA participation. The term 'female empowerment' refers to the process by which women gain control and power over their own life situations and their ability to make strategic choices, that is, the capacity to turn choices into desired actions and outcomes.  A qualitative methodology has been used, where the main data collection consisted of six individual interviews with VSLA staff responsible for implementing, monitoring and evaluating VSLA groups in six different districts, and two focus group interviews with female VSLA participants in two different districts, carried out during April and May 2021.  The findings show that VSLA participation significantly accelerates the process of female empowerment in both household and community domains for women in Rwanda and that VSLA is an efficient first step in moving from a marginalised position in the society. However, women are still in many cases restricted from claiming all potential benefits from VSLA participation by structures that dictate normative gender roles and power structures. The findings highlight the importance of continued gender-related and financial training in order to further increase female access to and control over resources through VSLAs.

The purpose of this study is to look in to how microfinance through the VSLAmodel has affected life circumstances of women in rural parts of Uganda. The study also examines whether participation in VSLA-groups leads to empowerment. The results have been derived from qualitative fieldwork, based on semi-structured interviews. Women from the Ugandan districts of Kayunga and Masaka have been interviewed about their experiences of participating in VSLA-groups. The theoretical framework consists of a liberal as well as a postcolonial feminist theorization. The study subject is analyzed by using Martha Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s thoughts on the subaltern. The Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) started working with financial inclusion in 2010 and in 2014 they implemented the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) in their work. It is found in this study that the VSLA-groups who operates guided by the Human Rights Based Approach, have had a positive effect on the life conditions of the interviewed women. The socioeconomic effects have been positive, the women have greater control over their life circumstances and the VSLA-groups have proved empowering. / I denna studies granskas en typ av mikrofinansmodell, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) och dess påverkan på kvinnor på Ugandas landsbygds livsomständigheter. Den undersöker också om deltagande i VSLA-verksamhet leder till empowerment. Studiens resultat bygger på fältarbete bestående av kvalitativa undersökningar. Kvinnor från de ugandiska distrikten Kayunga och Masaka har deltagit i semistrukturerade intervjuer där de berättat om sina upplevelser av att vara med i en VSLA-grupp. Det teoretiska ramverket har en liberal såväl som postkolonial feministisk utgångspunkt. Uppsatsens frågeställningar analyseras genom Martha Nussbaums Capabilities Approach och Gayatri Chakravorty Spivaks tankar om den subalterna. Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) började arbeta med finansiell inkludering 2010 och 2014 implementerade de Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) i sitt arbete. Denna studie finner att VSLA-grupper, vilka arbetar med hjälp av HRBA har en positiv effekt på de intervjuade kvinnornas livsomständigheter. De socioekonomiska effekterna har varit positiva, kvinnorna har fått större kontroll över sina förhållanden och VSLA-grupperna har haft en empowering effekt.