Impact Analysis of Microfinance on Crop Production in Ghana

Abstract

Agriculture is the major means of livelihood for the rural people of Ghana. It is also the backbone of national economies, the main source of foreign exchange and the most important source of employment. It is not surprising that in the 1980’s the paradigm shifted towards agricultural finance in developing countries. Microfinance became the alternative to the fall-out of government intervention to alleviate poverty through credit support to rural farmers. However, till now, no study has been conducted to ascertain the impact of microfinance on crop production in Ghana. This paper therefore investigates the impact of microfinance on crop production in Ghana with specific reference to the East Mamprusi District (EMD) of Ghana. The paper employed the quantitative method approach. The sample size that was used in the study was hundred (100) respondents who were drawn from the list of farmers in the district who have accessed microfinance. The results show that there is a significant relationship between microfinance and crop production. Also, consistent with the perceptive views of the respondents on the impact of microcredit on crop production, the regression result showed that a GHc1 increase in microcredit to the farmers would increase crop production by more than one-third (0.314) of a bag. This shows that microcredit has significant impact on crop production.