The Effects of Microcredit on Agricultural Production among Small-Scale Farmers in Kori Chiefdom, Moyamba District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone

Abstract

\- Lack of capital has been identified as one of the constraints faced by small-scale farmers. The aim of the research was to assess the impact of credit on agricultural production with specific objectives to determine its effect on farm size, labour employment and quantity of inputs as well as output among small-scale farmers in Kori Chiefdom Moyamba District and to determine any significant difference, if any between borrowers and nonborrowers. Structured questionnaires were administered to respondents. Seven respondents were targeted from each of the fifteen (15) villages, which give a sample size of one hundred and five (105) respondents from the chiefdom. The sample consisted of age (youth and elderly), sex (male and female) and rice farmers using the stratified random sampling technique, and the data obtained were summarized into tables, pie and bar charts with percentages and frequency. Secondary data were obtained from both published and unpublished literatures. Results showed a significant difference between borrowers and non-borrowers in farm size, farm output, income status and quantity of all inputs used (except family labour, fertilizer, hoes/cutlasses and animal traction). According to the research, farmers in rural areas had difficult access to agricultural credit and loans. In the research area, only 38 out of 105 farmers (36%) received microcredit for farming, compared to the majority (64%) who did not. Based on the analysis' results, borrowers had farms that were significantly larger than those of non-borrowers; the majority of them (86.6%) had between 6 and 10 acres, while just 13.40% had between 1 and 5 acres. Neither borrowers nor non-borrowers had farms with a size between 11 and 16 acres and above (0%), while the majority of non-borrowers (91.40%) had farms with a size between 1 and 5 acres, 5.60% had farms with a size between 6 and 10. This suggests that the rise in farm size that borrowers experience is more significant when financing to small-scale farmers. The study shows therefore that, access to microcredit over a long period of time impacts positively on agricultural production. Government and the organized private sector should provide credit regularly and timely to farmers.