Factors determining subsistence farmers' access to agricultural credit in flood-prone areas of Pakistan

Abstract

This paper examines the factors influencing farmers' access to agricultural credit in a flood disaster risk-prone area in Pakistan. Multistage sampling through a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 168 subsistence landholders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The empirical results of the heteroscedasticity corrected and weighted least squares regression with robust standard errors revealed that education, farming experience, total landholding, monthly income, family size, and proportion of owned land were significant factors in farmers' access to credit. The findings of this study reveal that socio-economic factors play a key role in farmers' access to agricultural credit in flood-hit areas in Pakistan. Hence, there is a need for credit policy to address the issues of farmers living in risk-prone areas. Moreover, the existing credit policy could be amended to protect the interest of tenant farmers, who lack collateral security.