Microcredits and Agricultural Productivity in Ogun State, Nigeria
This paper empirically examines the importance of microcredit in promoting agricultural productivity.
The paper is based on field research on microfinance in the rural farming communities in Remo Division of Ogun State, Nigeria, and examines the importance of microcredit in promoting agricultural productivity. The study seeks to identify socioeconomic factors responsible for productivity of farmers. It compares productivity levels and access to agricultural resources of microcredit beneficiaries with that of non-beneficiaries. The study reveals that:
- Access to microcredit can improve productivity of farmers and contribute to improving livelihoods of disadvantaged rural farming communities;
- Farmers need to be shrewd while utilizing credit facilities in order to achieve maximum output;
- Beneficiaries of microcredit in the study area were more productive than non-beneficiaries.
The paper suggests that farmers join cooperative societies in order to access credit, increase the size of their farmlands, increase their input of labor and ensure that they use microcredit for farm production purposes. Cooperative societies, commercial banks and other such organizations should ensure that credit is properly used and repaid on schedule.
