An Investigation of the Association between the Implementation of Village Banking and Financial Inclusion of Women Marketeers: A Case Study of Marketeers at Chisokone in Kitwe District

Village banking, also known as village savings and loan associations (VSLAs), traces its origins to the 1990s, with CARE International pioneering the model in Niger to address the financial exclusion of rural communities (Maganga, 2021) [25].

Methods

Correlational research design was used for the this research, since little was known about the effect of village banking on financial inclusion of women at Chisokone market in Kitwe district. The study used primary data sources and this was collected using questionnaires data. The study was comprised of 200 respondents (female village bank marketeers from Chisokone market in Kitwe district). The study employed chi-square and regression analysis to answer the research objectives. Simple random sampling was adopted in the study because it ensured that each respondent is chosen without bias.

Adopting simple random sampling also ensured that respondents were selected at random and each respondent had an equal probability of being chosen to be part of the study. The sampling frame consisted of women marketeers involved in manufacturing, services and trading.

Results

The study also revealed that group formation of village banks is a predictor of financial inclusion of women. The findings of the study has illustrated that loan conditions is a predictor of financial inclusion of women and this means that loan conditions has a significant influence on financial inclusion of women. The study also revealed that loan usage of village banks is a predictor of financial inclusion of women.

Conclusion

From the results of this study it was discovered that there is a strong association between group formation of village banks and financial inclusion of women. The results showed that there is a strong association between loan conditions and financial inclusion of women. The findings revealed that there is a strong association between loan usage of village banks and financial inclusion of women.