SUMMARY

“INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF

MICROFINANCIAL SERVICES, IN MIDE´S USERS, CUSCO - PERÚ”

By Liliana Alegría Zevallos

The present article sums up shortly the finds and conclusions of two researches carried
out for MIDE¹; with the attempt of knowing the impacts of the credit services and
microfinancial services.

Historically, the women in the Andine rural area in Peru, didn´t have access neither to
the control nor the decissions regarding the use of economic resourses, therefore they
couldn´t either develop the use of their capacities, freedom to elect and use these
capacities; in some cases we think that there isn´t even a starting point to “question” this
situation. Due to these factors, the state of poverty and structural inequality is mantained
and perpetuated, as well as the vicious circle which mantain this situation.

In this context, MIDE innitially considered meeting the demand of these microfinancial
services among the most vulnerable: the native women, who suffer a tripled
discrimination, as women, as native, and for being poor, since discrimination by itself is
a form of violence. Later on came up the necessity of analysing and knowing if there
had ocurred the expected economic and social changes through microfinances, which
had to revert in “a capacities empowerment process1”. It is important to point out that all
these years we noticed an institutional evolution in the conception, construction and
adjustment of these concepts: impact and empowerment, the latest understood as a
conversion process of opportunities into achievements and capacities, through which
the subjects increase their action and election freedom.

Incumbent on the acheived impacts, we can put them in two large groups: financial and
social. In the economic context it concludes that the credit demand met its needs in an
important sector of “poor2” and “very poor3” population; contrary to all expectations,
the “extreme poor4” are not significant. There have been achieved certain levels of
capitalization, improvements in food, housing, clothes, years of education for girls and

1
Starting from Amartya K. Sen and Martha C. Nussbaum´s theory of capacities, the article tries to establish to what
extent can the microcredit trigger a transformation process in the institutions which limit women´s economic, social
and political opportunities and restrict their fulfillment ability.
2
The family owns 01 hectare of land, on average, 4 or 5 cattle, and has a complementary craftwork. The family
participates in local fairs and has managed to reach a capital of 450€ due to its income. Both boys and girls go to
primary school and graduate it. There are less domestic violence problems, machism and alcoholism.
3
The family owns between 1/3 and 01 hectare of land, and less cattle. The average yearly income is of about 120€
euros. Machism and domestic violence is also frecuent in this case. Children go to school but very often only one of
them graduate. There are between 6 and 8 children per family.
4
The family doesn´t own land or cattle, its participation in fairs and agricultural markets is minimal; They only sell
products with low added value. The yearly income is of about 57€. Children abandon school through lack of money.
Domestic violence, machism and alcoholism are frecuent. The house is made of clay bricks without separation
between rooms and very often people sleep on the floor with bad hygienic conditions. The family has between 8 and
9 children.

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boys, health and sanitation; but the extreme poor haven´t developed significant changes,
the credit is still used for subsistence activities, mainly food.

As regards social impacts, we can point out that it has been achieved a minimum impact
level in gender relationships, we can notice that women have a better position within the
family unit, in negotiating decisions of economic nature; We only talk about small
investments and decisions regarding domestic expenses; it has been also achieved a
certain family and social acknoledgement of the woman´s part, but only as a generator
of new monetary income, since domestic work is still little visible and valued, socially
and economically keeps being considered as part of traditional domestic roles and
labours.

Women have diversified their economic activities depending on the increase of the
credit amount. However, these multiple labours have increased women´s work,
generating a tripled labour burden, consequently domestic labour has moved “only” to
women daughters and/or women from the social, family or communal network.
Nevertheless there are very rare cases, when man takes on corresponsability of domestic
labour, for instance when the woman has to move to some other local markets to sell
their products, and she´ll have to be away for a few days. This situation encourage the
perpetuation of domestic roles assignment, which are traditionally assigned to women.

The women clients who have a greater capital level or more studies and have received
some sort of technical advice, have entered as a group in markets, economic activities
and crafts which were traditionally considered as masculine, which made women
develop a series of abilities to negotiate with the rest of their negotiators, with
institutions and companies. This conquest is also reflected in a greater presence of
public spaces, and in some specific cases, political representatives.

In this group we can find women who have had a successful career and have evolved in
creating microenterprises (small business), managing to selfemploy generally her
husband; however, one can notice that man has passed to carry out management tasks:
economic resources and representing the microenterprise in public fiels, consigning the
woman to develop strictly the productive tasks of the microenterprise. We don´t know if
this role assignment is part of an internal negotiation process, within the couple or is
just a historical assignment based on sexual labour division, which marks these tasks as
“inherent to female nature and condition”. We should investigate more on the subject.

In the situations of poverty and extreme poverty, the unpaid work, in this case the
domestic one, is more depreciated economically and it has less probabilities of being
admited and “viewed” as resources generator in the family economy, in spite of the fact
that all Andine women from rural area, carry out a series of labours to mantain the
family food security. In this sense it is almost impossible to check if it has been a
minimum level of empowering on the matter. Generally these users ask for very small
loans ( four or five credits per year, of 15$), the benefit of which is dedicated mainly to
food and education improvement.

It is thought that the levels of machist and domestic violence has diminished only
among the “poor”; this practice is still erroneously justified. Out of frustration for lack
of access to economic resources, this problem hasn´t been widely approached, in its

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real dimension as a social problem; it is still considered as a taboo subject, a private
couple matter and not as a social drama to fight with, considering that in Peru every
hour there are 10 women victims of domestic and machist( male) violence.

As a result of these facts, there have come up a series of preocupations and unexpected
answers.
Therefore we suggest a revision of the theorical approaches and a historical research of
the origin, structure and manifestation of inequality relationships, based on the
following arguments:

We start from reconsidering the credit role, as a necessary tool but not sufficient to
obtain the empowering of women. Institutionally, this process hasn´t been focused on,
with a clear knowledge of theoretical basis of gender inequalities and the structural
network that mantain them, since MIDE´s inicial aim was to facilitate an economic tool
to the population that was historically excluded from the formal financial system. In this
case they chose women because they were the most excluded for their condition:
woman , native and poor.

We are aware of the existence of other guidelines that have to be included in MIDE´s
action plan and institutional policy, we think that there haven´t been identified or
approached any elements that can limit the microfinancial services impact, such as the
structural ones, the inequalities in the use of power and time, both in public, private,
personal fields and in the corresponsability and viewing of the domestic labour and
machist, domestic and sexual violence.

We think it is essential to conduct a historical and etnologic research in the creation,

organization and maintenance of these inequalities, so that we could fully know,
understand, question and become aware of this, since from the institucional point of
view it is thought that the empowering of the social abilities can be achieved only by
working on the self-esteem and personal development matters, as it is sensed that these
limitations are fruit of a psychological problem, but gender inequalities and their origins
are not questioned, as well as the structural network that mantain them, prejudices
perpetuation and stereotypes related to female gender.

Therefore we suggest a revision of the theoretical frame:

o A critical revision of the theoretical and scientific concepts, which guarantee

the present female condition.
o Promote the clearing up of the irrational ideological aspects which underlies
woman in a subordination place.
o Question the patriarchal ideology: the relationship between Judeo Christian
religión and the capitalist economic model, upheld in the biologism,
emphasize sex differences, recognizes a hierarchy relationship between
sexes, expressed in all social operation areas, in the form of social
oppression of woman, in sexual, economical, intellectual, religious,
psychological and emotional fields.
o Question certain social manifestations from Inca´s historical legacy which
mantain an important gender bias burden and female discrimination.

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We suggest that MIDE´s institucional intervention should consider a series of activities
that can involve both man and woman in a joint and equitable way, since the credit,
although is offered directly to the woman, the decision of asking for it or not, the use,
and usufruct of benefits, seem to be discussed and evaluated with the spouse or family.
This way the institution would be promoting activities and common spaces for
discussion, negotiation and refletion on common rights and responsabilities between
genders, since some other way it would encourage conflict spaces instead of
conciliation and corresponsability in view of the distortion of the historically assigned
roles both to women and men. We also think that it would be a valuable methodological
tool to sistematize the negotiation processes within the couple.

We finally think that in a process of gender inequalities surmounting, we can also notice
a change in the patriarchal family relationships. That is, if this will free women, the
same will happen with men, because if women have access to material resources for
family benefit, men also have new experiences and are freed from gender stereotypes.