AbstractThe smallholder farmers in the developing countries are struggling to remain in agribusiness due to inadequate access to agricultural finance. It was against this background that this study analysed the benefits of financial credit among smallholder farmers in P More
AbstractThe smallholder farmers in the developing countries are struggling to remain in agribusiness due to inadequate access to agricultural finance. It was against this background that this study analysed the benefits of financial credit among smallholder farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: (i) describe socio-economic characteristics of the farmers; (ii) determine the sources of credit available to the farmers; (iii) examine the perceived benefits of credit obtained by the farmers; (iv) identify the factors influencing accessibility of credit to the farmers; (v) ascertain the constraints to credit accessibility among the farmers. Two-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents. A structured interview schedule was used to elicit information from respondents. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics, and spearman rank correlation analysis. The results of this finding revealed that mean age of the farmers was 45 years. Majority of the farmers (43.3%) had secondary education. Preponderance (84.2%) of respondents practiced farming as primary occupation. Most (89.2%) of the respondents sourced their credit from money lenders. Increase in income and ability to send children to school were perceived benefits of credit obtained by the respondents. The farmers’ access to credit was significantly influenced by farming experience, farm size, level of education and annual income. The study therefore recommended that government should make adequate and timely provision for soft loans among the potato farmers since most of the farmers sourced their loans from money lenders which attracts high interest rate that may kill potato business.
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