Operationalizing Microfinance: Women and Craftwork in Ifugao, Upland Philippines

In the 1990s, microfinance emerged as the leading development strategy adopted to alleviate poverty and empower the poor, particularly women. Views differ, however, on the extent to which access to financial services can enhance participants' quality of life. This paper addresses this ongoing debate by analyzing a new (mid-1997) microfinance program in the northern Philippines established by the Central Cordillera Agricultural Programme (CECAP). Focusing on women's work in crafts, this paper argues that CECAP has initially focused on achieving financial self-sustainability within the short time frame allotted to the project, rather than emphasizing social change objectives. In so doing, primarily those women with already existing businesses or microentrepreneurs, not the poor, are benefiting from the system; and many women are behind in their loan repayments. The fluctuating demand for crafts prevents entrepreneurs from passing on gains to small producers. By stressing timely loan repayments and not c...