Access to Credit and Constraint Analysis: The Case of Smallholder Rice Farmers in Ghana

Abstract

The study assessed rice farmers’ access to credit and constraints in rice production in the Tolon District of Ghana. A total of 140 rice farmers were sampled for the study using multi-stage sampling technique. The probit model was used to estimate the factors that affected rice farmers’ access to credit. The Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to assess the constraints in rice production. The results of the study revealed that majority of the rice farmers accessed credit from family and friends and invested the credit into non-agricultural activities. The probit result revealed that age, marital status, member of farmer based organization, extension visit, record keeping and farm income were the significant variables that influenced rice farmers’ access to credit. The results also revealed that high cost of inputs and pest were the most pressing institutional and technical constraints in rice production, respectively. The study recommends that credit should be converted to physical inputs and other services and delivered to farmers to help minimize credit diversion from the farm sector. Rice farmers should be encouraged to form farmer groups and keep records of farming activities considering the fact that it positively influenced farmers’ access to credit. Subsidies should be provided on farm inputs. Effective ways of eliminating pest on rice fields should be developed since it was a major challenge facing the rice farmers in their production.