THE ROLE OF MICROFINANCE IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA A CASE STUDY OF THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT BANK NACRDB LTD SOKOTO
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains the background to the study followed by the statement of the problem, the objectives of the study, the significance of the study, the scope and limitations of the study and lastly, the scheme of chapters.
1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Microfinance which is also referred to as Micro-credit is the extension of loans to entrepreneurs whom are too poor to be qualified for the traditional bank loan especially in developing countries. It enables very people to engage in self- employment project that generate income.
The concept of microfinance was developed by Muhammad Yunus, a U.S educated professor of Economics, who first got in the business of fighting poverty during the 1973 famine in his homeland of Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world. Yunus discovered that small loans could make a significant difference in a poor person’s survival. His first loan consisted of 27 dollars from his own pocket, which he lent to a woman who made bamboo furniture, which she sold to support herself and her family. In 1976, Yunus founded the first microfinance bank called the Grameen Bank, which provides loan to the Bangladesh people. Since then it has issued more than a billion dollars in loan to some 2.4 million borrowers.
Today, microfinance has become a fashionable word with the World Bank, and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs) and is the key word for getting funds from funding agencies. While some consider microfinance as a panacea for poverty and all the ills of the society, others consider it as the mobilisation of groups for organizing the unorganized for social change. In Nigeria, there are approximately 119 million people representing 70.2% of the current population of over 170 million who live below the poverty line and majority of these people are not having the basic amenities of life. The most affected are the women and children. (Google 2012)
THE ROLE OF MICROFINANCE IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA A CASE STUDY OF THE NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT BANK NACRDB LTD SOKOTO
