Micro Finance and its Impacts on Women's Livelihood: The Case of Amhara Credit and Saving Institution in Mecha Woreda, West Gojjam, Amhara Regional State

Poverty is a common problem of almost all developing countries. Ethiopia is one of the developing countries that experiance the hard consequences of poverty. Inorder to reduce the magnitude and extent of poverty, the microfinance institutions have recently gained more attention.Among the Microfinance institutions Amhara credit and Saving Institution(ACSI)is the one which is found in Amhara region. The operation of ACSI is traced back to 1995 when it was at first initiated by the organization of Rehabilitation and development of Amhara(ORDA)which is indigenious NGO engaged in development activities in Amhara region.The vision and mission of ACSI is to see a society which is free from the grips of abject poverty with all the power determining their future in their own hands and to improve the economic situation of low income productive poor people in the Amhara region through increased access to lending and saving services respectively.