SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES HAWASSA UNIVERSITY EXAMINERS APPROVAL SHEET

We, the undersigned, members of the Board of Examiners of the final open defense by Kassech Erwaro Moltumo have read and evaluated his/her thesis entitled An Assessment on the Role of Village Saving and Loan Associations in improving socio-economic status of members in Shebedino Woerda, Sidama Zone, SNNP Regional State, Ethiopia, and examined the

candidate. This is therefore to certify that the thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of M.A. in Cooperative Development and Leadership.

______________________ Name of the Chairperson

___________________ Signature

______________ Date

_______________________ Name of the Internal Examiner

___________________ Signature

_______________ Date

_______________________ Name of External Examiner

___________________ Signature

______________ Date

Final approval and acceptance of the thesis is contingent upon the submission of the final copy of the thesis to the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) through the Department Graduate Committee (DGC) of the candidates department.

Stamp of SGS

Date

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES HAWASSA UNIVERSITY ADVISORS APPROVAL SHEET

This is to certify that the thesis entitled, An Assessment on the role of illage saving and loan associatios in improving Socio Economic Status of members in Shebedino woreda, Sidama , Zone SNNP Regional State, Ethiopia submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts with specialization in Cooperatives Development and Leadership, the Graduate Program of the Department of Cooperatives, and has been carried out by Kassech Erwaro Moltum ID.No: SGS/323/03 under my supervision. Therefore, I recommend that the student has fulfilled the requirements and hence hereby can submit the thesis to the department.

_________________________ Name of the Advisor

_________________ Signature

_______________ Date

DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this M.A. thesis entitled, An Assessment on the role of Village saving and loan association in improving Socio- economic status of members in Shebedino Woreda, Sidama Zone, SNNP Regional State, Ethiopia is my original work and has not been presented for a Degree/Diploma in any other university, and all sources of material used for this thesis have been duly acknowledged.

Name: Signature:
This M.A. thesis entitled, An Assessment on the role of village saving and loan association in improving socio-economic status of members in Shebedino Woerda Sidama Zone, SNNP Regional State, Ethiopia has been submitted for examination with my approval as Thesis advisor.

Name: Signature: Place and Date of Submission:

Acknowledgements
At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Dr.R.Karunakaran, Assistant Professor for his valuable advice, guidance and encouragement throughout my thesis work. Words are inadequate to express my sincere thanks to Dr.S.Balamurugan, Assistant Professor for his assistance in the statistical model application. My special thanks are due to the Mr.Ahmedin Sherefa, Head, and Department of Cooperatives for his constant encouragement and support in accomplishing the research work in a successful way. I also extend my sincere gratitude to the Plan International Ethiopia, SNNPR, PU and BICDO who provided me the necessary support from the beginning up to end of the my thesis work. . I also record a sense of gratitude to the BICDO field staffs that have extended their support in selection of sample VSLA member respondents for the purpose of the study. I extend my sincere gratitude to the Members of selected VSLAs who have actively involved in the process of interview by providing adequate information for the successful completion of the study.