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Women constitute the majority of the society that are greatly deprived, they experienced adverse situations in term of socio-economic inequality and gender disparity. Women have limited access to economic and income generating assets such as land and funds. Microcredit is viewed as a veritable tool for women empowerment and poverty alleviation. The study is focused on the role of microcredit in women empowerment and poverty alleviation in Edo State, Nigeria. It specifically identified the sources of microcredit to women, the effect of microcredit on income, savings and investment level of women and the constraint militating against women access to microcredit. Data for the study were collected using a well structured questionnaire administered to 100 women who have had access to microcredit in the study area. This study used two stage sampling procedure where the respondents were selected randomly. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The result shows women in the study area sourced their credit from four micro credit institutions in Edo State with majority (33.33%) obtaining the sum of N30, 000.00 and above. Family size and loan volume had positive and significant effect on the income of the respondents. Access to microcredit had effect on the income and savings of the women as the income and savings of these women were greater than their income and savings before accessing micro loans with the difference in income and savings of N225, 809.50 and N9, 772.70 respectively. This showed that micro credit is a tool that could be used to improve the income and savings level of women and thus empower them for better living. It is therefore recommended that Government should help to create awareness through radio, television and the print media on the activities of micro credit institutions and their credit functions so that more women may be aware of their on-going activities. More resources should be made available to these micro credit institutions so that more women can be benefited by the programme.

Keywords: Microcredit, women empowerment, poverty alleviation, Edo State.

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Citation: Ilavbarhe KO, Izekor OB (2015). The role of microcredit in women empowerment and poverty alleviation in Edo State, Nigeria. J. Agric. Crop Res. 3(6): 80-84.