Impact of Microfinance on the Small Scale Wheat Production in Moiben Division, Uasin Gishu County

Abstract

Wheat production is an expensive venture due to the nature of crop. From planting to harvesting the process is not done manually because it is tedious and cumbersome. Due to poverty and other factors, most small scale farmers have joined various microfinance institutions with an aim of improving wheat production and thus improving the general living standards. However, despite the numerous microfinance institutions in Moiben Division, it has been revealed that the living standards of people seldom improve. This study used descriptive survey design. The target population constituted small scale wheat farmers from Moiben Division. Purposive sampling was first adopted in the choice of study area. This is because most small scale farmers have resorted to microfinance services towards improving wheat production. Simple random sampling was used to select 200 study participants where proportionate strategy was used to get representative samples from the five selected locations. The study found that most small scale wheat farmers access credit facilities in terms of loans, savings and even deposits. However, despite accessing these facilities, the level of production is not very high due to high interest rates, short repayment period and lack of training. The study recommends that there is need for microfinance institutions to provide training of their clients especially small scale farmers on the utilization of such credit facilities and microfinance institutions to provide favourable interest rates to these farmers.