Agricultural credit repayment behaviour of smallholder farmers in farmer-based organisations (FBOs) under government and NGO credit programs in Ghana

Smallholder farmers (SHFs) produce 80% of the total agricultural output in Kenya. The Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) was designed to address short-term hunger among primary school children from food-insecure households, enhancing access to primary education while providing a market to SHFs through local procurement of food for schools. This study investigated SHF access and participation in the HGSFP market and the uptake of a mobile phone platform (MPP) in HGSFP procurement in Tharaka Nithi, Kitui and Kilifi Counties of Kenya. Descriptive cross-sectional study design was utilized and data were collected from SHFs, school teachers and farmer-based organizations (FBOs) within the schools' locality using semi-structured questionnaires. A total of 378 SHFs, 92 FBOs and 70 school teachers were interviewed for the study. Data were analyzed using Stata version 16. The study revealed that SHFs (22.8%) and FBOs (37.5%) gained access to HGSFP market and sold produce of maize (92.9%) and beans (91.4%). The main channel used by SHFs to sell produce to schools was through the FBOs (61.6%) amidst challenges of lack of surplus to sell (53.2%), low prices (50.9%) and poor transport infrastructure (23.6%). HGSFP schools purchased most of their food requirements from traders/brokers through manual tendering (65%). The uptake of the MPP for procurement of food by HGSFP schools and FBOs was embraced and promising and was rated as faster to use (76.8%) and more transparent in HGSFP procurement (44.6%). The study concluded that local procurement opportunities through FBOs were underutilized. We recommend more capacity-building support for SHFs and FBOs to increase their production and give them better opportunities to be key participants in the HGSFP market and other structured markets. The MPP should be adopted for the procurement of food for school meals for transparency and accountability. To maximize its benefits, it should be inclusive of all market players, especially traders/brokers and sufficient training should be provided to all stakeholders to participate fully in the HGSFP market.

Adoption studies have mainly focused on econometric and quantitative modelling that usually assume smallholder farmers competently adopt agricultural technologies. This study provides novel insights on user competency and frequency of usage of mobile telephony for agricultural extension services among smallholder farmers and agricultural extension agents (AEAs) and key factors that impede the adoption process. The study examined users’ competencies and mobile phone usage frequency for access and delivery of agricultural extension services in Eastern Ghana. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 95 AEAs and 330 smallholder farmers in five districts of the Eastern region of Ghana and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and regression analyses were performed to analyse the data. Results showed substantial differences between AEAs and smallholder farmers’ competency in the use of mobile phones for agricultural extension services. Socio-demographic characteristics of smallholder farmers and AEAs correlated with usage frequency of mobile phones for access to extension services and delivery. Educational level, amount of weekly expenditure of money on mobile phone use, mobile phone network quality, income level, and age of both AEAs and smallholder farmers had positive and significant correlations with frequency of usage of mobile phones. User competency differentially impacts the frequency of mobile phone use in agricultural extension services between AEAs and smallholders. High call tariffs and access to recharge cards are major challenges in using mobile phones for agricultural extension in the study areas. The study shows components of the adoption theory of compatibility, and complexity where an innovation fits within the socio-cultural framework and perceived difficulty of use. Thus, the frequent use of voice calls is indicative of early stages of the diffusion process and may diversify into other applications in the future. Farmer-based organisations should be resourced to support training of farmers to use mobile phones to improve access to agricultural information dissemination. Integrating voice-based agricultural information services (IVRs) into the current SMS-based agricultural extension services in Ghana could potentially boost extension service delivery to smallholder farmers in the Eastern region and across the country. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture may partner with key stakeholders and mobile service providers to offer hands-on capacity building to smallholder farmers and AEAs in video calling/conferencing, multimedia service, and social media to enhance their competencies for improved agricultural extension services.

Many countries have recognized the need to revive agricultural advisory or extension services (the terms are used interchangeably here) as a means of using agriculture as an engine of pro-poor growth; reaching marginalized, poor, and female farmers; and addressing new challenges, such as environmental degradation and climate change. In spite of ample experience with extension reform worldwide, identifying the reform options most likely to make extension more demand-driven remains a major challenge. The concept of demand-driven services implies making extension more responsive to the needs of all farmers, including women and those who are poor and marginalized. It also implies making extension more accountable to farmers and, as a consequence, more effective. This essay discusses various options for providing and financing agricultural advisory services, which involve the public and private sectors as well as a third sector comprising nongovernmental organizations and farmer-based organizations. We review the market and state failures, and the “community” failures (failures of non-governmental and farmer-based organizations) inherent in existing models of providing and financing agricultural extension services and then outline strategies to address those failures and make extension demand-driven. Then we examine India's Policy Framework for Agricultural Extension, which has demand-driven extension as one of its major objectives, and review available survey information on the state of extension in India. We conclude that although the framework proposes a wide range of strategies to make agricultural extension demand-driven, it is less specific in addressing the challenges inherent in those strategies. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the strategies proposed in the framework will be able to address one of the major problems identified by farm household surveys: access to agricultural extension. from Authors' Abstract

High temperature, erratic rainfall, and drought are the three major physical manifestations of climate change in Ghana. Smallholder farmers in Ghana have shown vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, with some farmers employing migration as an adaptation mechanism. Using primary data collected from 500 maize farmers in seven districts of Ghana, our study draws a link among climate perception, migration and productivity of maize farmers by estimating a two-step Heckman sample selection model and employing inductive coding to analyse the qualitative data. The results show that farmers’ experience, access to farm credit, farm size, location, usage of NPK fertilizer, and local seeds have positive impact on the productivity of maize farmers. Additionally, household size, main occupation, membership in farmer-based organisations, and perception of declined soil fertility have significant effects on migration decisions of smallholder maize farmers. The qualitative reports show that perceived increase in temperature, drought, flooding, and erratic rainfall has led to a decline in the productivity of maize farmers. Among others, we recommend that relevant stakeholders (i.e., policy makers and NGOs in the agricultural space) should focus on promoting the use of improved seeds, and NKP fertilizer, coupled with the provision of farm credit and expansion of farm sizes to enhance the productivity of maize farmers in Ghana. Also, smallholder farmers should be supported to engage in alternative livelihood enterprises, join farmer-based organisations and to adopt techniques that enhance soil fertility in order to reduce climate-induced migration among maize farmers.

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a Farmer and Enterprise Training in Commercial Agriculture (FETCA) programme on behaviour and practices of rice farmers in the Sekyere East District of Ashanti Region of Ghana. For this purpose, the study adopted the Kirkpatrick framework as a guide in assessing training effectiveness and used the before- and after-tests to assess change in behaviour. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed through descriptive analytical statistics and the z-test. The results of the study revealed that the MIDA-Farmer and Enterprise Training in Commercial Agriculture (FETCA) programme significantly upgraded the technical know-how of members of Farmer-Based Organisations (FBOs) to adopt key recommended production practices and improved their organisational capacity building behaviours. There is evidence of shared knowledge and experiences in production-based rice activities, building capacity and developing financial skills with colleague farmers, farm family and farm workers, indicating a multiplier effect of the FETCA programme. The results reinforces the view that focus on Organisational Capacity Building modules, Technical Capacity and Business Development modules, are important in FBO training programmes in Ghana.

Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is the major source of financing higher education in Kenya. Non-repayment of the loan among university students after they have graduated is a major drawback on funding education for other needy students. Non-recovery of loans leads to non-sustainability of the education fund which leads to a number of loan applicants unable to get the loans which are meant to assist them cater for their learning expenses. In Kenya, 40% of students’ loans are in default. The main objective of the study was to investigate the antecedents of loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to determine demographic factors affecting loan recovery of Higher education loans in Kenya, the economic factors affecting loan recovery of Higher education loans in Kenya and the loan repayment factors affecting loan recovery of Higher education loans in Kenya. The study was informed by the life-cycle model, Neoclassical development theory and ability-to-pay theory. The study took the quantitative approach drawn from the positivism research philosophy. The study targeted the quarterly data from the Higher education Loans Board for the last 10 years (from the year 2012 to 2022). Items to be collected were quarterly data on loan repayment factors, economic factors, demographic factors and loan recovery of higher education loans. The study used secondary data which was collected from the Higher education Loans Board quarterly data reports for 10 years (from the year 2012 to 2022). The data was analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics since the secondary data is a panel in nature. A 0.05 significance level (95% confidence interval) was the error variance used. Results were then presented in tables, diagrams and charts. Given the economic factors, the findings revealed that inflation rate has a negative (-0.117) and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship with loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Unemployment rate had a negative (-0.012) and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship with loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Economic growth also had a negative (-0.114) and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship with loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Given the demographic factors, the findings revealed that income level has a positive (1.181) and statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationship with loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Educational Level also has a positive (0.482) but insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship with the loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Given the loan repayment factors, the findings revealed that lending interest rate has a negative (-2.761) and statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationship with the amount of unrecovered loans. Interest penalty had a beta coefficient of -0.016 suggesting a negative and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship with loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. The study recommends HELB to implement stricter policies and regulations to ensure timely and effective loan repayments. The study recommends HELB alongside the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education to develop and promote financial literacy programs that target borrowers to improve their understanding of loan repayment obligations, interest rates, and financial management. The study recommends the strengthening of Financial Aid Programs which can include increasing the availability of grants and scholarships specifically tailored to support students with lower income levels or from marginalized communities.

PurposeThe study aims to estimate the rates of exposure to, and adoption of, rural bank credit programs by smallholder farmers in rural Ghana and the factors responsible for those rates.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a random sample of 300 smallholder farmers in the Fanteakwa District of Ghana, obtained through the multistage sampling technique. The study also employed the average treatment effects approach to estimate the average treatment effect of farmers’ exposure to rural bank credit programs, on their adoption of such programs.FindingsThe actual adoption rate is approximately 41%, and the potential, conditional on the whole population being aware of rural bank credit programs, is approximately 61%. Accordingly, there is a gap of about 20% in the adoption of rural bank credit programs, and is due to the incomplete exposure of smallholder farmers to the rural bank credit programs. Age of the household head, access to extension services, membership in farmer-based organizations and active savings accounts with a rural bank are the major contributors to smallholder farmer exposure to and the adoption of rural bank credit programs.Originality/valueThe current study is the first of its kind to be conducted in Ghana on rural bank credit programs. It takes into account the extent to which smallholder farmers are exposed to such credit programs and how it influences their decisions to access or adopt.

Across Africa, agricultural productivity continues to decline due to poor soil fertility. Smallholder farmers have less access to fertilizers to improve yields. Past and present governments in Ghana have made some efforts to raise productivity and to deepen the economic and social potentials of the agricultural sector by implementing fertilizer subsidy programs. Using data from 543 smallholder rice farmers in northern Ghana, we estimated both endogenous switching regression and treatment effect models to examine the factors that influenced participation in fertilizer subsidy programs, and rice productivity differences among beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers. This was to address heterogeneity and biases stemming from unobservable characteristics at farm and farmer levels. Farmers’ participation in fertilizer subsidy programs was influenced by age, sex, education, farm size, membership of Farmer-Based Organization (FBO), access to media, knowledge of integrated soil and water conservation (SWC) practices, farm to market distance and herbicides application. Productivity of rice was mainly influenced by age, knowledge of integrated SWC, seed and herbicides usage. The outcomes from the treatment effect model revealed a negatively and significant effect of fertilizer subsidy on rice productivity. It is recommended that ways to improve the effectiveness of the fertilizer subsidy policy and distributional mechanisms to farmers should be given much attention to unlock the agricultural potential of Ghana.

This study contributes to the literature on the impact of farmer contact with agricultural extension services on farm productivity, drawing on a unique panel sample of households residing in three resettlement areas of rural Zimbabwe. It pays particular attention to the potential confounding effects of the biases identified by Birkhaeuser, Evenson, and Feder. Specifically, we exploit the longitudinal nature of our data to estimate the impact of extension on the value of crop production per hectare, with and without controls for unobservable household fixed effects. The attraction of this estimator is that the differencing process rids the specification of the correlation between extension and the disturbance term. We find that after controlling for innate productivity characteristics and farmers' ability using household fixed- effects estimation, access to agricultural extension services, defined as receiving one or two visits per agricultural year, raises the value of crop production by about 15%. This parameter estimate is statistically significant. Another unique feature of these data are, for a subsample, extension worker assessments of farmers' ability. We find that farmers with above-average ability are indeed more productive, producing 40%-50% higher output per hectare of cropped area. Controlling for innate productivity using locality dummies, farm plot characteristics, and farmers' ability using these assessments of ability, we continue to obtain a positive association between access to extension and productivity, an association that is equal in magnitude to our fixed-effects results. However, we also find considerable variability in these parameter estimates across individual crop years.

Abstract: This study examined the factors driving the adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices in Northern Ghana. In nine selected communities, 318 smallholder farmers were interviewed, comprising 115 adopters and 203 non-adopters of CSA practices. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the most common CSA practices in the area. Chi-square analysis and binary logistic regression were performed to examine which factors most likely influenced the use of the selected CSA practices. The study found that age, educational level, household size, access to extension and farmer-based organisations (FBO) membership of all smallholder farmers surveyed directly influenced smallholder farmers’ utilisation of CSA practices. As revealed in the study, up to 90% of the smallholder farmers in the study area were aware of the various CSA practices being examined. The study also showed that smallholder farmers frequently used on-farm composting, with the Chi-square test showing that access to extension services, household size, and educational attainment all had an impact on smallholder farmers' usage of on-farm composting. The study recommends that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) intensify extension service delivery on CSA practices to promote their adoption by smallholder farmers in the face of climate variability and change.

Purpose: The primary source of funding for higher education in Kenya is the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). Failure to repay loans by university graduates poses a significant challenge, hindering the availability of financial resources for other deserving students. This lack of loan recovery undermines the sustainability of the education fund, consequently preventing many loan applicants from obtaining the financial support intended to cover their educational expenses. The default rate for student loans in Kenya stands at 40%. The main aim of this research was to examine the factors influencing the recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. Specifically, the study aimed to identify the demographic, economic, and loan repayment factors that impact the recovery of these loans.
 Methodology: The investigation centered on quarterly data spanning a decade (2012 to 2022) obtained from the Higher Education Loans Board. The data collection encompassed loan repayment factors, economic indicators, demographic characteristics, and loan recovery statistics for higher education loans. The study was based on secondary data sourced from quarterly reports of the Higher Education Loans Board spanning the same ten-year period (2012 to 2022). The data was analyzed by use of descriptive and inferential statistics since the secondary data is a time series in nature. A 0.05 significance level (95% confidence interval) was the error variance used. Results were then presented in tables, diagrams and charts.
 Results: Given the economic factors, the findings revealed that inflation rate has a negative (-0.117) and statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) relationship with loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. The correlation between the unemployment rate and loan recovery for higher education loans in Kenya was observed to be negative (-0.012) and found to be statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Similarly, the relationship between economic growth and loan recovery for higher education loans in Kenya exhibited a negative trend (-0.114), which was also statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Examining demographic factors, the study revealed that income level demonstrated a positive association (1.181) that was statistically significant (p < 0.05) in connection to the recovery of higher education loans in Kenya. On the other hand, the relationship between Educational Level and loan recovery for higher education loans in Kenya was positive (0.482), it was deemed statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Turning attention to the loan repayment factors, it was uncovered that the lending interest rate displayed a significant negative correlation (-2.761) with the amount of unrecovered loans, which was statistically significant (p < 0.05). In contrast, penalty exhibited a beta coefficient of -0.016, indicating a negative relationship, although this relationship was found to be statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) in terms of its impact on the loan recovery of higher education loans in Kenya.
 Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: To enhance the effectiveness of loan repayments, the study proposes that HELB should adopt more stringent policies and regulations, aiming to ensure prompt and efficient loan recovery processes. The study recommends HELB alongside the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education to develop and promote financial literacy programs that target borrowers to improve their understanding of loan repayment obligations, interest rates, and financial management. The study recommends the strengthening of Financial Aid Programs which can include increasing the availability of grants and scholarships specifically tailored to support students with lower income levels or from marginalized communities

With a gamut of climate variability and change literature that examines rural spaces in the global south, and in the case of Ghana, rural spaces in the northern part, this article turns focus to a less targeted empirical space of peri-urban geography to examine demographic factors and the extent to which membership of social networks intersect with adaptation strategies. Specifically, we answer the research question: To what extent do demographic factors and membership of social networks influence smallholder farmers adaptation strategies in a peri-urban space in Ghana? Using a mixed-methods approach involving cross-sectional data on 150 smallholder crop farmers selected through random sampling, complemented by focus group discussions, we find that smallholder farmers’ demographic characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, farming experience as well as membership of Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) significantly influenced adaptation strategies to climate variability. Gender, however inversely influenced alternate livelihood adaptation strategy. Agricultural advisory and extension services should target addressing specific gender needs, promote, and up-scale crop rotation, tree planting, and alternative livelihoods, as well as its intersection with demographic factors and FBO membership among farm households to improve resilience to climate variability and change in peri-urban spaces.

Access to financial resources by smallholder farmers remain a daunting challenge in spite of increasing numbers of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in Ghana. This paper contributes to the debate in addressing gaps created by an ever increasing numbers of MFIs yet the declining number of small businesses, particularly smallholder farmers having access to credit. Using data from 104 smallholder farmer microcredit borrowers of Ada East in the Greater Accra Region, the paper analysed the constraints preventing borrowers from accessing microcredit. Random sampling was used to obtain information from farmers using semi structured questionnaire. The Kendell Coefficient of concordance was used to analyse the result to establish the level of agreement among farmers perception about the constraints associated with application and granting of loans. High interest rate (1.76 mean rank) was found to be the most critical constraint. Other constraints in accessing microcredit were credit inadequacy, short repayment duration and farmer based organizations (FBOs) membership requirements. It is recommended that MFIs should put in place mechanism to lower operational costs in order to reduce the cost of borrowing. Finally, simplifying loan application procedures and reducing bureaucracies to reduce delays in loan disbursement will minimize the constraints in access to microcredit.

The adverse effects of climate change on agricultural productivity are on the increase. This study employed both descriptive statistics and the multivariate probit model to estimate factors constraining the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among smallholder farmers in the study area. The empirical results of the multivariate probit model showed that a lack of knowledge of climate change constraints was influenced by smallholder farmers’ age, gender, off-farm activity, susceptibility and membership in farmer-based organizations. Thus, to improve the adaptive capacity of farmers, government and development partners should work together to improve the conditions under which farmers can gain access to climate change information and suitable agricultural credit as well as policy incentives aimed at lowering the stringent conditions of borrowing in the agricultural sector.

Climate change adaptation and smallholder farmers welfare: Empirical evidence from the Sahelian Region of West Africa