Contribution of self help groups to women empowerment: the case of lemo woreda of hadiya zone, south nation nationalities and people’s regional State, Ethiopia

Gender equality and women empowerment is the fifth of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are a lot of socio-economic problems in the study Woreda mainly among poor. This is because of women do not get opportunity for getting out of the house work and be active in participation of social and economic ventures and also Women are not economically and socially empowered. Along with government and non-government parties, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are working towards achieving the goal. In rural parts of Lemo woreda, such groups are carrying out various activities that benefit women and community. This claim need to be studied since lack of consolidated and systematic research and documentation on the contribution of the SHGs in the empowerment of women in the study area is the problem, and the results thus obtained can suggest this method over other. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the contribution of SHGs in empowering poor women in Lemo woreda. A survey of 121 respondents was conducted in four rural Kebeles of Lemo Woreda. Four interviews for identifying cases, four Focus Group Discussions and one Key Informant Interview are carried out to substantiate the data. The study found that Economic, social and political empowerment of women is positively contributed by self-help groups. The result showed that SHGs in the study area carry out various activities like savings and credit creation, health education on child care and sanitation and hygiene practices, environmental protection and awareness creation programs. The various activities like saving and internal lending service reduced the economic dependency of women upon other members of the family and the trainings and knowledge enabled the women to begin economic activities. Thus, women could use the loan and trainings to engage in income generating activities. The trainings, meetings and awareness creation session activities increased the knowledge and experience which led to an increase in the ability of making decisions and ensure participation. Other SHG activities participation enhanced the women knowledge on health issues, and environmental protections. The study showed that inadequate training facilities, shortage of income, low skill level and low literacy, unequal economic status among members, lack of funds support, traditions and cultural values, conflict between group members and lack of family support during women participating in economic activities as major challenges which create hindrance at SHGs path from contributing to Women’s Empowerment. The empowerment indicators of the SHG participants as seen in the study suggest that participation speeds up the empowerment process, however women’s participation is limited on decision making and control over high value resources. It is recommended that implementing and managing a long-term saving and credit culture like SHG in the area can be a good path for promoting women empowerment, and focusing in broader sections of activities in SHGs will be immense important to create opportunities for the poor women to sustain their livelihood and improve the situation for their empowerment.