India Case Study – CASHE
At-A-Glance: Finding evidence to prove or disprove hypotheses and answer key
questions about the impact of CARE projects on empowerment
Background of Project
The organization "Navajyoti" started working in the field of rural development in
1976 as a youth club. While working with the youth, they realized that to bring in
sustainable development in the villages they would need to involve the women
who were the most neglected section of the society.
In 1991 they started to organize women’s groups consisting of 100-150 women,
which dealt mainly in the social issues, mitigating family problems of their
members including domestic violence. They also developed linkages with the
government agencies and fought for the development of their villages. At that
time women members also played a major role in the anti-arrack movement
which led to the banning of alcohol in the state. As they realized that women had
to be economically independent if they were to be empowered, they started thrift
[savings?] activities in the groups and from 1995 onwards they started linking the
groups with banks for accessing credit.
The partnership with CARE India’s CASHE project started in the year 2000. They
divided the women’s groups into smaller self-help groups and then federated the
small groups into 4 Mutually Aided Co-operative Societies, which are exclusively
financial intermediaries, as opposed to the smaller Social intermediaries.
Women from socio-economically backward communities are the primary target
group of Navajyoti. Other project components include: health awareness for
women (mostly on RCH), old age programs, and non formal education for girls.
How empowerment is defined locally:
In the Cashe plus group, an empowered woman was, “Anybody who can go out
and speak to anyone is an empowered women.” She is also educated, able to tell
others what they learned, and have more awareness. They identified leaders of
MACs as strong women.
In the Cashe only village, the women felt they were not empowered because
they are not educated, that knowing what is written on a piece of paper and not
knowing is critical in becoming a leader. They could not identify any lower caste
woman as being empowered.
In the non Cashe village, the vision was of a woman with books in hand,
spectacles, purse in her hand, money, pen in hand, and jewelry, car and own
house on her name. Pen and books represent education or literacy, through
which women get into good job and earns respect in the society and family.
Spectacles and Purse represents an employed woman. House and car –
represents her ownership on assets.
For many participants, the image of an empowered woman is one carrying a
purse, is self-confident and self-reliant, able to step out of her house and make
her place in the world.As one woman said, an empowered woman was also `good
at her work’, `listened to her family and looked after it,’ while adding to the
family’s income. In one of the CASHE study villages, the women feel that any
woman who can earn money, has unrestricted mobility, can make her own
decisions, raise her voice against injustice and provide leadership to others is an
empowered woman.
Study sites and context:
A study to analyze the impact on women’s lives of CASHE interventions was
carried out three sites in Andhra Pradesh, with the assistance of the partner NGO
(Navjyoti).
 One CASHE intervention site where the partner had been working before
CASHE (Cashe Plus). Most of the people in the community were involved in
agriculture & Bidi making and the members of the groups in Dairy and soap
making. Most of the members of the groups are illiterate (they can only sign),
except one who has passed class 7. The group has been there for 9 years,
there are 13 groups which were formed by Navjyoti out of total of 34 groups of
the village.
 One CASHE Site where the partner began SHG work in 2000 with CASHE
support (Cashe) Most community members own small pieces of land and are
wage laborers. Wage disparity is high - men earn Rs.50 a day, and women
Rs.20 a day. Women engage in wage labor work during the agricultural
season. Men migrate to Bombay and other places after the agriculture season
in search of work. Most of the households own some milch animals. There
has been reduction in the number of animals and many have sold their
animals due to drought conditions. During the past drought period, (in
summer) households were given 4 Kg of fodder.
 One site with women’s groups that were government supported ( Non Cashe).
This was one of the poorest villages in the district. Although the groups have
been in existence for 4 or 5 years, the women received little institutional
support. This village has a mixed type of SHGs consisting of poor, poorest
and moderate members. Most of the villagers are agriculture laborers. Due to
drought conditions in the village for the last 7-8 years, the situation has
worsened. Only a few people own land. Some have invested huge sums in
installing bore wells, which have failed. There is no hospital in the village, so
they must travel 10 kms.
The sites selected were comparable in the context of class, religion, economic
status and community.
Research Methodology and Tools
Three teams were formed comprising CASHE, CARE India and the partner NGO.
The first two days were spent with the research team to discuss the draft plan,
develop detailed methodology for data collection, agree on some guiding
principles and remind everyone of good research/interviewing techniques [see
Tips below].
The approach was to construct a series of hypotheses and then collect data or
evidence that would prove or disprove the hypotheses, which in turn would help
researchers answer the key questions of interest to CARE:
o What are the women’s perceptions about the most significant changes in
their lives in the last five years and how it relates to indicators of
empowerment?
o What has been the impact on women’s decision-making and influence
within family
o What has been the impact on women’s workload/ gender equity in division
of labor within the household?
o What types of collective actions have women taken to influence wider
social/ political issues within the community?
o How do collectives influence marriage and kinship roles and rules
The hypotheses were based on the following assumptions:
 Microfinance contributes to women’s empowerment
 Women as members of SHG are influenced by group formation
 Community leader influences the women members
 Some change happens because of NGO leaders
 Some change because of SHG formation as per CASHE guidance
Methodology
The inquiry involved interactions with many different stakeholders, including the
partner NGO staff, CASHE staff, teachers, community leaders, money lenders/
financiers, MACS leaders, communities and SHG clients. Appropriate qualitative
methods were adopted in order to gather insights using checklists developed to
gather information. Every facilitator ensured that the women selected for the
individual interviews were both vocal as well as
Tips
non-vocal, new members as well as old
members, young and old women etc.
 Probe- do not prompt
 Be curious
Focus Group Discussions were held with
 Ask why
members of the women’s groups in each of the
 Challenge your assumptions
sites. Additionally, individual interviews were
 Be aware of your beliefs/biases
carried out for in-depth investigation of selected
areas of inquiry and to get perspective from non Do not interpret
members, brothers, sons and daughters,
 Observe
husbands, community leaders, PRI members
 Treat the participants with respect
about the impact of activities on women’s
and dignity
empowerment. Another methodology used was
the Venn diagram, which helped participants
identify the most significant changes and the
number of women who had been affected by the change. The facilitator put
percentages to the number of members who have reported change and bigger the
circle greater is the significance and the distance determined how close it was to
the women. For example the women felt courage has been the most significant
change (large circle) in the lives of the women but this change has happened in
only 75% of the women the distance showed that there are still 25% who are not
courageous.
The same site was revisited on consecutive days to fill any information gaps, seek
answers to additional questions that emerged after discussions on the first day’s
data collection. On an average the teams spent around 8-9 hours in the field on
the first day (on day 3) and around 5 hours on the second day of the field visit
(day 4). The team met in the end of the day to discuss the findings in the field,
challenges faced during data collection, and this was followed by reflection on
strategies to be adopted to capture trends and data gaps from the findings.
A meeting was held on day 4 with partner staff and with CARE Andhra Pradesh
project staff to talk about their internal strengths and weaknesses, the objectives,
values and stories of the organization, their personal values and its influence on
their work and interaction with the community and their ability to take risks and
tolerance to mistakes by the organization. The final day was spent on
preliminary analysis of findings and identifying emerging themes and findings.
Hypotheses and Findings
Change hypothesis: When women are organized in-groups then change
happens in areas like awareness on social issues, access to financial services,
decision making at household level, and increased voice of women. Being a
member of the group there is increase in the status within the family and
society: able to take decisions, voice heard in the community, participation in
meetings, participation in social development.
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In the Cashe plus group, the following changes were reported: courage;
political awareness and participation in political bodies; capacity to run their
own business; more children getting an education; some changes in decisionmaking; and bringing different caste groups together.
In the Cashe only group, the following significant changes were reported:
women fighting for their rights; more education of children and controlling
child labor; change in age at marriage; increased awareness of health and
nutrition; feeling fearless and more comfortable talking to new people;
reduced dependency on moneylenders; active participation of men; awareness
among youth of caste issues and breaking down caste barriers.
In the non-Cashe village, women reported greater mobility and education for
their children but there was little social action. Their mobility was restricted
to visit to the MRO and MPDO banks. They never go out for any other
activity/reason. The women in the village who belonged to the higher caste
(Reddys) did not mingle with the women from the lower castes. They were not
involved in agricultural activity even though they had land and women (lower
caste) were being employed as labor in their fields. Loans taken by the women
were most often to meet the needs of the family like a car for the son.
Decision-making hypothesis: Joining groups has resulted in women taking
decisions at the household level. Access to financial and non financial services
has led to decision making at different levels and different economic strata.
Women who have taken loan for their own economic activity have greater
control over the decisions regarding the loan
Findings: While men still have control over major decisions, women reported an
increase in consultation and respect for their opinions. Interestingly, lower caste
women were reported to have more freedom to make decisions on their own than
higher castes. In the non-cashe village most women felt that their decision
making has not improved, except for a little increase in consultation on decision
like schooling of children and taking out loans.
Collective Action hypothesis: Women’s groups have organized to meet
practical/immediate needs (like water, food for work etc.) but not strategic
interests of the community like dowry, infanticide, alcoholism, etc). SHG
methodology and group formation enhances / improves community collective
action
Findings: Members of both the Cashe villages groups collectively took up issues
that were affecting their lives, however the government-supported groups were
not involved in any collective action. The groups here were actively involved in
many collective social actions specially related to dowry, caste discrimination and
alcoholism. Most members of the community, women, men, teachers, doctors,
financiers believe that group formation enhances community collective action.
Community collective action is influenced by level of awareness of issues,
capacity of the leader and support by the agency working in the area.
Institutional linkages Hypothesis: Being members of groups Women are more
aware about the key institutions but are unable to access the resources/services.
Participation in SHG will lead to increase in access. Mainly the SHG leaders are
able to access resources
Findings: The groups from all the three villages were able to mention numerous
institutions that are now important and very accessible to them, including the
SHG, the banks where they have their accounts, schools, police stations, health
centers, milk collection centers, and others related to their group activities.
CASHE women were able to name more intitutions had had a high sense of
accessibility.
Workload hypothesis: Membership in-groups has led to increase in workload
both at household and community level. Being members of SHG does not
translate into personal benefits.
Findings: Membership in groups have increased the workload of women but this
is not looked as a burden by most women. Increase in workload cannot be
directly linked to Microfinance alone, repeated failure of crops have also
increased the burden on the women. Alternate livelihood option within the
village was only available for women as they were the beneficiaries of all
interventions government as well as Cashe. Leaders typically have the support of
either their grown up daughter or their mother in law at home. They also have a
supportive husband, who encourages her, as the whole family benefits from the
improved social status.
Marriage and Kinship hypothesis: Being members of group has not changed the
practices and behavior of women towards girl child education, son preference,
dowry, violence against women and participation in other social functions.
Membership in groups has increased the acceptance of inter-caste marriages and
participation in ceremonies but given a choice most women would not support
inter-caste marriages. Women here are 'tuned' to accept changing values,
perceptions and systems, but they are not proactive in encouraging social change.
Indicators of Empowerment:
 Provides leadership to others: No indicators discussed.
 Good at her work/contributes to family’s income: Greater ability to explore
different livelihood options to supplement their family income. Able to start
income-generating activities and run their own businesses (milk trade, ration
shop, flour mills, etc.)
 Listens to/looks after family: Because women have money in their hands,
they feel that they can meet the immediate needs of their children. Often there
is no consultation with husband needed. Better availability of food for
consumption throughout the year in quantity as well as quality. SHG
members are able to add vegetables, fish and meat to their diet once or twice a
week due to increased income. Easier to cope with food shortages.
 Has unrestricted mobility: Women have more freedom of movement now.
Can go more places. Greater connection to institutions such as banks.
 Able to participate in decision-making: Improved decision-making in
household (women have more of a voice although man may still ultimately
decide). [Note: Although women may be playing a greater role in decisionmaking, it may be relegated to “safe” issues—those that conform to the sociocultural context that is already based on inequities. Their decision making
about those issues that have potential for conflict, or those that are excluded
from the decision-making agenda need to be examined.]
 Speaks against injustice: Domestic violence and men’s alcoholism have
decreased. Courage gained through participation in groups and training
programs; women feel that the groups have become a forum to discuss
personal problems as well as those related to their families and the village in
general. Group formation has enabled women to support each other in times
of crisis (domestic violence, medical emergencies, police harassment,
campaign against alcoholism, public health campaigns, financial shortfalls to
pay dowry, etc.). They can also negotiate with institutions such as the gram
sabha for bringing benefits, such as the construction of roads, to the village.

Other findings (not outlined in definitions): Increase in
festivals/celebrations, to which all group members, irrespective of caste or
religion are invited. Education has increased. Every child is going to school,
irrespective of sex. This has also helped to control child labor. Marriage age
increased from 11 to 18. SHGs are no longer organized around caste or
religion. Men are more open to helping women domestically where there are
no other women to share the workload.
Notes:
 There seems to be some change in the women’s empowerment indicators
related to structures in Andhra Pradesh; there is an increased acceptance of
inter-caste marriages and widow remarriages in the community. Project
evaluation indicates noticeable increases in real levels of consumption of (i)
food, (ii) health, (iii) education, and (iv) shelter, linked to improved access to
financial services. These include: participation in local social and political
processes beyond microfinance issues; increased ability to influence
household economic decisions; reduced vulnerability to economic shocks as a
result of increased access to financial services.
 It is difficult to claim deliberate contribution from the CASHE interventions
for all these indicators. Some could be attributed to the systems and processes
put in place by the partner organization of CASHE. At this point, after about
five years of programming, there seems to be negligible change in women’s
empowerment indicators related to structures.
 This microfinance project is about providing savings and loan facilities to
enhance the capacities of women so that they can generate more
income/improve the stability of income; it builds on the primary role of
women as homemakers. Its benefits do not address personal needs such as
health, leisure or education. It seems that women’s perceptions of
empowerment may not necessarily challenge their traditional role. In one of
the villages, women feel that they do not fit into the description of the
empowered women because they are not educated. They are aware that
literacy is the main barrier to their empowerment.
Further Reading:
Strategic Impact Inquiry on Women’s Empowerment in CASHE AP Report,
August 2005
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