The Sources of Microfinance Capital and its Effects on Farmers access to Credit in Ghana

Anane, I.; Zhang, Y.; Nie, F.

doi:10.21608/svuijas.2021.61143.1080

The Sources of Microfinance Capital and its Effects on Farmers access to Credit in Ghana

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Agricultural Information Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China

² College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University Haidian District, Beijing, China

10.21608/svuijas.2021.61143.1080

Abstract

Farmers in Ghana face difficulties in accessing microfinance credit, and as a result, there is low accessibility to microfinance credit. This study explores the effects of sources of microfinance capital on farmers’ access to credit. A total of 2734 individual household members were used in the final analysis to establish the relationship between the sources of microfinance capital and farmers’ access to microfinance credit. The participants include clients of selected microfinance institutions and non-client households. Logistic regression models were employed for data analyses. The study has shown that microfinance capital’s source significantly influences farmers’ access to credit. The analysis further revealed that land ownership, gender, and literacy strongly correlate with farmers’ access to credit. The study has also established that savings account, microfinance membership, and geographical location significantly influence the credit providers’ decision-making process to grant a loan to the customer. Our findings suggest that microfinance institutions have not been able to perform their business effectively because of capitalization. Sensitization programs are needed to enable microfinance institutions to configure innovative financing methods to improve capitalization. There is a need to improve the sources of funds and capital mobilization to maximize their financial performance and increase farmers’ access to credit. Education to farmers to understand credit providers’ requirements can also increase farmers’ access to microfinance credit.

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