Livestock development through micro-credit: A hope for poor resource women in Rural Areas of Faisalabad, Punjab

Pakistan is facing twin challenges for revival of the economy and reduction in rural poverty. For this purpose the government has introduced number of initiatives, of which micro credit is very important. Moreover, about 52 percent of population is women folk, hence revival of economy and rural poverty reduction is almost impossible without their involvement. The present research was conducted at Technology Transfer Institute (PARC), AARI, Faisalabad during 2008-09 to find out the impact of micro-credit scheme implemented under Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP) on the socio-economic conditions of female population in the rural areas of district Faisalabad. Sample size of 120 women was taken randomly from the community organizations (COs) supervised by the PRSP. Primary data were collected through personal interviews with well-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. As a result of micro credit activity, livestock population at farm and landless families has increased significantly. About 27 percent females reported betterment in their social status in their family system as well as in village due to income generation activity triggered by micro-credit. Similarly, betterment in household consumption was also noticed both in farmers and landless families.