Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Improving productivity among smallholder farmers in Ghana: does financial inclusion matter?

Improving productivity among smallholder farmers in Ghana: does financial inclusion matter? Does financial inclusion matter for productivity among smallholder farmers? The authors answer this question by using the sixth and seventh rounds of the Ghana Living Standard Survey to examine the extent to which financial inclusion affects productivity among smallholder farmers in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a pooled data of the 6th and 7th rounds of the Ghana Living Standard Survey which are national representative data. The authors model an Instrumental Variable (IV) to correct for endogeneity in financial inclusion and a dominance analysis to examine the effects of access to credit, ownership of savings account and insurance product on farmers' productivity.FindingsResults from the study indicate that financial inclusion significantly enhances productivity. Moreover, credit, savings and insurance products influence productivity at various degrees. Thus, expanding the scope of financial services (access to credit, savings and insurance) among smallholder farmers is crucial for inclusive finance and sustainable agricultural production.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study have implications for financial institutions in the design of financial products that the meet the needs of smallholder farmers.Originality/valueSeveral studies have looked at how access to credit influences agricultural productivity in Africa. However, in recent times financial inclusion has been advocated for because it goes beyond mere access to credit. This paper to the best of our knowledge is the first of its kind to examine how financial inclusion could affect agricultural productivity in Ghana. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Agricultural Finance Review Emerald Publishing

Improving productivity among smallholder farmers in Ghana: does financial inclusion matter?

Download PDF
22 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/improving-productivity-among-smallholder-farmers-in-ghana-does-QbVAuDzsnx

References (92)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0002-1466
DOI
10.1108/afr-12-2019-0132
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Does financial inclusion matter for productivity among smallholder farmers? The authors answer this question by using the sixth and seventh rounds of the Ghana Living Standard Survey to examine the extent to which financial inclusion affects productivity among smallholder farmers in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a pooled data of the 6th and 7th rounds of the Ghana Living Standard Survey which are national representative data. The authors model an Instrumental Variable (IV) to correct for endogeneity in financial inclusion and a dominance analysis to examine the effects of access to credit, ownership of savings account and insurance product on farmers' productivity.FindingsResults from the study indicate that financial inclusion significantly enhances productivity. Moreover, credit, savings and insurance products influence productivity at various degrees. Thus, expanding the scope of financial services (access to credit, savings and insurance) among smallholder farmers is crucial for inclusive finance and sustainable agricultural production.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study have implications for financial institutions in the design of financial products that the meet the needs of smallholder farmers.Originality/valueSeveral studies have looked at how access to credit influences agricultural productivity in Africa. However, in recent times financial inclusion has been advocated for because it goes beyond mere access to credit. This paper to the best of our knowledge is the first of its kind to examine how financial inclusion could affect agricultural productivity in Ghana.

Journal

Agricultural Finance Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 8, 2021

Keywords: Smallholder farmers; Ghana; Financial inclusion; Productivity; Credit; Savings; Insurance; G2; G21; G28; O16

There are no references for this article.