DETERMINANTS OF CREDIT ACCESS AMONG RICE FARMERS IN RURAL CAMEROON
Abstract
Inadequate access to credit remains a major constraint to agricultural production in Africa. However, not all farmers face this difficulty. This article assesses the determinants of agricultural credit access among rice farmers who are members of the Ngoketunjia Cooperative Credit Union in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. A structured pretested questionnaire was administered to 126 randomly selected credit beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, all of whom are members of the study credit union. Binary logistic regression was performed, with the dependent variable (access to microcredit) being 1 (yes) if the respondent received a loan during the 2018/2019 farming season, and 0 (no) otherwise. 12 explanatory variables were used in the analysis, which adopted a 10% level of significance. Statistically significant relationships were observed between farm size, inputs, farm output, and access to loans, suggesting that access to microcredit has a positive impact on agricultural production. The three key factors facilitating access to microcredit were farming experience (B = 0.38,
p = 0.06), the educational level of the farmer (B = 0.81, p = 0.06),
and the diversion of loans to solve other problems (B = 1.64,
p = 0.06). Based on these results, we recommend better financial inclusion of rice farmers in microcredit schemes to increase local rice production and reduce imports in Cameroon.
Keywords
access to credit; agricultural production; Cameroon; rice farmers; influencing factors
References
Alhassan, H., Abu, B.M., Nkegbe, P.K. (2020). Access to credit, farm productivity and market participation in Ghana: A conditional mixed process approach margin. J. Appl. Econ. Res., 14(2), 226–246. DOI: 10.1177/0973801020904490
Assogba, P.N., Kokoye. S.E.H., Yegbemey, R.N., Jonas A., Djenontin, J.A., Tassou, Z., Pardoe, J., Yabi, J.A. (2017). Determinants of credit access by smallholder farmers in North-East Benin. J. Dev. Agric. Econ., 9(8), 210–216. DOI: 10.5897/JDAE2017.0814
Atamja, L., Yoo, S. (2021). Credit constraint and rural household welfare in the Mezam Division of the North-West Region of Came-roon. Sustainability, 13(5964), 2–19. https:/
/doi.org/10.3390/su13115964
Balgah, R.A., Bomnsa, T.J., Tchouassi, G. (2020). Does access to microfinance minimize risks in Cameroon? Afr. Inter-Discip. Rev., 11, 115–130.
Balgah, R.A. (2019). Factors influencing coffee farmers’ decisions to join cooperatives. Sust. Agric. Res., 8(1), 42–58.
Bin, J.M., Diangha, S.N., Ofeh, M.A. (2021). Impact of access to credit on the sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises in Cameroon. Am. J. Indust. Bus. Manag., 11, 705–718. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2021.11604
Blasé, M.G. (1971). Role of institutions in agricultural development. Institution for Agricultural Development. Iowa University Press, Ames.
Business in Cameroon (2020). Cameroon imported a “record, hitherto unheard of” 803,505 tons of rice in 2019. Retrieved on 17th Nov 2021 from: https://www.businessincameroon.com/agriculture/1507-10546-cameroon-imported-a-record-hitherto-unheard-of-803-505-tons-of-rice-in-2019
Chandio, A.A., Jiang, Y. (2018). Determinants of credit constraints: Evidence from Sindh, Pakistan. Emerg. Mark. Fin. Trade, 54(15), 3401–3410. DOI: 10.1080/1540496X.2018.1481743
Conroy, D.J. (2003). The challenges of microfinancing in Southeast Asia. Financing Southeast Asia’s economic development. Singa-pore: Institute of Southeast Asian studies.
De Aghon, B.A., Murdoch, J. (2005). The economics of microfinance. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Djoumessi, Y.F., Kamdem, C.B., Afari-Sefa, V., Bidogeza,
J.-C. (2018). Determinants of smallholder vegetable farmers credit access and demand in southwest region, Cameroon. Leibniz Inf. Centr. Econ., 38(2), 1231–1240. http://hdl.handle.net/10419/179942
Honig, D. (2019). Case study design and analysis as a complementary empirical strategy to econometric analysis in the Study of Public Agencies: Deploying mutually supportive mixed methods. J. Pub. Admin. Res. Theor., 29(2), 299–317. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muy049
Fogwe, Z.N., Nghengwa A.P. (2014). A Cameroonian community development incidence of a three decade rise-fall rice economy on NDOP plain in the upper nun valley, Cameroon. J. Env. Res. Manag., 5(3), 047–053. http://www.e3journals.org
Ilebanmi, B.C. (1983). Impact of credit on small scale food producing farmers of Akoko South and Akoko North. Unpublished M.Sc. Dissertation. Zaria: Department of Agricultural Economics, Ahmadu Bello University.
Kometa, S.S., Mua, K.E. (2017). Constraints to agricultural advancement within the Ndop Plain North West Region, Cameroon. J. Biol. Agric. Health., 7(20), 1–8.
Linh, T.N., Long, H.T., Chi, L.V., Tam, L.T., Lebailly, P. (2019). Access to rural credit markets in developing countries, the case of Vietnam: A Literature Review. Sustainability, 11, 1468. DOI:10.3390/su11051468
Maniriho, A., Musabanganji, E., Lebailly, P. (2021). Factors affecting farm performance among small-scale farmers in the volcanic highlands of Rwanda: What is the role of institutions? Asian J. Agric. Rural Dev., 11(4), 262–268. DOI: 10.18488/journal.ajard.2021.114.262.268
Mele, V., Belardinelli, P. (2019). Mixed methods in public administration research: Selecting, sequencing, and connecting. J. Public Admin. Res. Theory, 29(2), 334–347. DOI: 10.1098/jopart/muy046
Mbuli, C.S., Fonjong, L.N., Fletcher, A.J. (2021). Climate change and small farmers’ vulnerability to food insecurity in Cameroon. Sustainability, 13(1523), 2–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031523
Mensah, N.O., Yeboah, E., Donkor, A., Tutu, F.O., Dier, R.K. (2019). Determinants of credit access of cocoa farmers. Appl. Stud. Agribus. Comm., 13(3–4), 73–78. DOI: 10.19041/APSTRACT/2019/3-4/9
Offor, O.S., Archibong, B.E., Silwal, P.K., Udo, U.J. (2021). Household level determinants of micro credit access among small holder farmers in Niger Delta Region, Nigeria. Niger. Agric. J., 52(1), 102–110. http://www.ajol.info/index.php/naj
Ongwech, W.L., Obel-Gor, C., Adhiambo, O.M. (2020). Determinants of credit access among smallholder dairy farmers in Kinangop sub-county, Kenya. EPRA Int. J. Agric. Rural Econ. Res., 8(5), 1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra5808
Osabohien, R., Mordi, A., Ogundipe, A. (2020). Access to credit and agricultural sector performance in Nigeria. Afr. J. Sci. Technol. Innov. Dev., 14(1), 247–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2020.1799537
Tetteh, K.F., Baffoe, S., Boateng, P.Y., Teye, E. (2021). Modeling the determinants of credit delinquency among credit unions in rural communities in Ghana. Afr. Dev. Resour. Res. Inst. J. Ghana, 30 (2/7), 76–100.
Thunstrom, T. (2021). 21 Microfinance statistics you need to know in 2021. Retrieved on Nov 26th 2021 from: www.fitsmallbusiness.com/microfinance-statistics/
Tumenta, B.F., Fonteh, A.A., Manu, I.N. (2021). Role of agricultural cooperatives in rural development in the era of liberalization in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. J. Agric. Exten. Rural Dev., 13(1), 69–81. DOI: 10.5897/JAERD2020.1211
Vik, E. (2010). In numbers we trust. Measuring impacts of institutional performance? Perspect. Global Dev. Technol., 9, 292–326.
The University of Bamenda, Cameroon Cameroon
The University of Bamenda, Cameroon Cameroon
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6117-2282
The University of Bamenda, Cameroon Cameroon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This journal permits and encourages authors to post items submitted to the journal on personal websites or institutional repositories both prior to and after publication, while providing bibliographic details that credit, if applicable, its publication in this journal.
