Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to analyze if the Grameen Banks Microfinance program

has a positive or negative impact of the women in the rural Bangladesh. With our field study

we want to get our own insight into the how Grameen Banks organization works. Furthermore

we want to meet and see with our own eyes a number of borrowers to hear their version of

about Microfinance and its impact on their lives. Main research question is

: Does

Microfinance have a positive or negative impact of the women in rural Bangladesh?

Our sub

questions are:

How does microcredit work in the practice? How does the Grameen Bank

finance the Microfinance system? And how can the borrowers repay the loans without falling

into a vicious spiral where the economic situation deteriorates? Is Microfinance a way of

developing the society in a long term way? Is Microfinance a community development

solution for the reduction of society's poverty that generates the development of welfare?

Method:

We have chosen to use the qualitative method when we collected data. The

collection have taken place mainly through personal interviews and general group interviews,

but also through own observations.

Result & Conclusions:

From our research we have seen that the MF impact on the women is

more positive than negative. This study shows that Grameen Bank MF program gives poor

women in rural Bangladesh opportunities that they don’t otherwise have. GB MF program

gives women chance to gain a more secure life, a social network, a change in life, with hope

for a better life.

Suggestions for future research:

To investigate on one part of Microfinance. For example

the interest rate and how that affects the women or impact on women’s empowerment with

help of MF, or struggling members and how they benefit from MF programs.

3

Contribution of the thesis:

We did a practical study too see and get our own experience of

Microfinance in real life. Contributions from our study are that the society in Sweden can be

enlightened and educated that Microfinance can be a critical element of an effective poverty

reduction strategy especially for developing countries. The services provided by Microfinance

institutions can enable the poor to build their assets gradually, develop their microenterprises,

enhance their income earning capacity, and enjoy an improved quality of life. To inform

society in Sweden that Microfinance contributes to poverty reduction in Bangladesh, we hope

that society wants to learn even more and have active discussion regarding Microfinance

institutions. Following information collected from our

study has revealed that Microfinance

have changed the life of poor people in a positive way.

Key words:

Grameen Bank, microfinance, impact, rural women in Bangladesh.