Microfinance and Environment: Does the Participation in the Microcredit Based Social Forestry of Proshika in Bangladesh Improve Environmental Literacy?

The study intends to assess the impact of the participation in the microcredit based social forestry program of Proshika in Bangladesh on the environmental literacy of participating households. The analysis is based on a household-level survey of 450 households. Considering the endogeneity in program participation, the instrumental variable (IV) technique has been used to achieve the objective of the paper. The results indicate that the participation in the social forestry program of Proshika significantly enhances the environmental literacy of participating households.