A number of alternative micro-credit schemes were initiated since the early 1980s to enable women to access credit and financial services. Most of these programs do not heavily subsidize interest rates and repayment is linked to future lending. The Ahon sa Hirap Project (ASHP,which when translated to English means "rise from poverty") is one good example of micro-credit scheme for poor rural women in the Philippines. The ASHP is a replication of the Grameen Bank rural-based credit assistance program in Bangladesh.
The women-borrowers of the ASHP engaged in several livelihood activities which they found suitable to their locality, such as charcoal making, taro (Colocasia esculenta) production, goat and duck raising, fishing, and dressmaking, among others. The women's practices and experiences, problems, constraints, and lessons learned from their experience are discussed in this publication.
