Assessing the Impact of Village Saving and Loans on Rural Poor People Livelihood in Malawi
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The vast majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas of developing countries with little access to financial services. Setting up Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) has become an increasingly widespread intervention aimed at improving local financial intermediation. In Malawi Saving and borrowing money is difficult. Microfinance institutions are mostly found in urban areas. Distances between clients in rural areas are often large, making loan disbursement and monitoring too expensive. As an alternative to formal microfinance institutions village banks, known as village savings and loan groups (VSL groups), are sustainable and low- cost options. This research is going to find out if the Village Saving and Loans Association has an impact in the livelihood of rural poor people in terms of poverty reduction in Mchinji district of Malawi. In order to give a detailed understanding on the research objective, the following specific research objectives were set, to investigate if saving in VSLs program has an impact on the livelihood of the people in rural areas, to find out the impact of loan sizes acquired in the group on the livelihood of the people in rural areas and to examine the impact of interest rate on loans. To meet the objectives set above, the following research questions were set, to what extent has saving in the groups affect the livelihood of the people in Malawi? to what extent has the loan size acquiring in the group affect the rural poor people in Malawi? and To what extent has the interest rate on loan affected the livelihood of the rural poor people?. In other countries, especially in Africa, a lot of research have been conducted on the impact of village saving and loans on rural poor people livelihood. In Malawi the research in this field remains a few, therefore, this research study will provide new insight in the way people view micro-finance bank in the villages. This will help in bridging the gap and broadens the scope of existing literature on rural livelihoods in Malawi particularly those focusing on groups like Village Savings and Loans (VSLs) which are scarce in Malawi. In addition to this the research will generate new ideas in which scholars and other researchers will use in their studies in the future. The study was cross-sectional; both descriptive and analytical methods were used. The data was collected from both primary and secondary data sources, from VSL beneficiaries of T/A Dambe, Kapiri education zone, Mchinji district and the study focused on the impact of village saving and loans associations (VSL) in rural poor people living in Malawi for the period of 2021-2022.Mchinji district was chosen as the place of the research because it its where the model of VSLs activities were feasible, and the population sample of district was the true representative of the entire population of Malawi. The study used a quantitative approach, and the simple random and stratified sampling techniques were used to ensure that all the segment of the population was included in the sample. The researcher used probability sampling which involved the use of stratified sampling and then simple random sampling. The procedure used to select respondent were as follows: VSL beneficiaries in Kapiri were categories into two groups according geographical location; these were based on the ones that live near trading and those that live far from the trading. In these two locations VSL groups supervised by save the children were selected Then after grouping the VSL beneficiaries into stratified sampling, the VSL beneficiaries were randomly selected within each group and the questionnaires were administered to the respondents. The sample size used by the researcher in this study constitutes 50 VSL beneficiaries in Mchinji. The researcher used both the primary and secondary data in the study. The primary data was collected by the researcher through the use of questionnaire while the secondary data was collected from published materials, which included journals, textbooks magazines, and newspapers. The study used SPSS version 16.0 software package to perform regression analysis and estimation of parameters. The study was carried out to assess the impact of Village saving and loan associations on rural poor people livelihood in Mchinji district of Malawi and below were the findings. The first objective of the study was to investigate if saving in VSLs program has an impact on the livelihood of the people in rural areas. The study revealed that saving in VSL groups had a positive relationship to the livelihood of the people. In addition to above finding, the research also reviewed that a few people were saving before joining the groups and that savings has increased after they had joined the VSL groups. The second objective of the study was to assess the impact of loan sizes acquired in the group on the livelihood of the people in rural areas. The study revealed that loans acquired in VSL groups had a positive relationship to the livelihood of the people. In addition to above the research has showed that access to loans was a problem before joining VSL groups, but after joining members had access to loans through the loan service offered by the groups. The third objective of the study was to examine the impact of interest rate on loans when acquiring asset in rural areas. The research had showed that high interest rate hinders the rural poor people in obtaining loans from the VSL groups, this in turn reduce the number of assets acquired. The research further concluded that interest hinders the rural people from borrowing which means that there was negative relationship between interest rate and rural poor people livelihood. In addition to the following findings the research has also revealed that most of the beneficiaries are women in comparing to men who are in the groups. In conclusion the findings of this study provide us with policy options because of the importance of independent variables such as saving, loan sizes, and interest rate. Banks and other microfinance institutions such as (SACCO) should adjust the interest rate on loan when dealing with rural poor. As shown in the research the rural poor people are having problem with the interest rate on loan which is also lower than the banks and other MFIs.
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This study analyzes the Green Human Resource Management practices and the association between GHRM and green organizational culture in Bangladesh's banking sector. Moreover, this paper's framework consisted of AMO and RBV Theory in which Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity were focused on creating a model basement. This study used a partial least squares structural equation modeling technique for data analysis. Self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection from different levels of employees of public commercial banks in Bangladesh. Research questionnaires were sent to employees working in four public, commercial banks through 42 branches in Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions. The data were collected from 385 bank employees using a simple random sampling method. The study findings show that state-owned commercial banks of Bangladesh are very much aware of green practices. Moreover, Green Organizational Culture has a significant positive relationship, specifically, Green Job Design, Green Human Resource Planning, and Green Induction Management, which shows a positive outcome of maintaining green organizational culture. However, green recruitment and selection and green training and development programs negatively impact the creation of an organizational green culture. These recommendations clarify the affiliation between sustainable GHRM practices and organizational culture, which can drive sustainable workplace behaviors and foster an eco-friendly culture in banks. The study's limitations are generalizability, cross-sectional design, and lack of mediation analysis. Future researchers should employ a more diverse technique, different areas, and longitudinal techniques to establish causative interactions and incorporate mixed research methods for gaining in-depth insights with more variables.
This paper investigates the transformative impact of technology and digital infrastructure on the growth of startups. It emphasizes the innovative integration of these elements to drive entrepreneurial success. Through various case studies, the research illustrates the pivotal role of digital tools and platforms in shaping the startup landscape. The findings highlight the necessity of leveraging technology to enhance operational efficiency and market reach, ultimately contributing to sustainable growth in a competitive business environment.This paper investigates the transformative impact of technology and digital infrastructure on the growth of startups. It emphasizes the innovative integration of these elements to drive entrepreneurial success. Through various case studies, the research illustrates the pivotal role of digital tools and platforms in shaping the startup landscape. The findings highlight the necessity of leveraging technology to enhance operational efficiency and market reach, ultimately contributing to sustainable growth in a competitive business environment.
