In the practice, the term empowerment seems to be mentioned mostly in connection
with credit delivery for women's income-generating activities. Supporting poor
women's income-generating activities through credit provision is, of course, an
important strategy in poverty alleviation. However, whether or not credit provision
falls into the category of empowerment approach depends on the context in which
this activity is being carried out. Naked provision of credit cannot challenge existing
75
structures of gender subordination. Therefore, it cannot be regarded as an
empowerment strategy. As Hashemi et. al. (1996: 635) state, "minimalist programs
[…] that provide credit with minimal training or other supplementary support services
do not empower their female participants and may even worsen their situations."
Similarly, Linda Mayoux (2002: 7 quoted in Mosedale 2005: 248) writes that "female
targeting without adequate support networks […] will merely shift the burden of the
household debt and household subsistence onto women." Therefore, the minimalist
credit programs fall rather into the category of the efficiency rather than the
empowerment approach29. The empowerment is a holistic approach, and it implies
much more than credit delivery. However, the credit provision can become one of the
instruments of the empowerment approach, provided that it is utilized in compliance
with the goals of empowerment. For credit to have an empowering effect, it must be
offered as a part of a complete package. This package should include skills and
technical training as well as training in marketing, finance and bookkeeping on the
one hand; and non-formal education and awareness raising in social and political
matters, on the other.