IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v14y2024i10p1764-d1492950.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors Influencing Informal Credit Access and Utilization among Smallholder Farmers: Insights from Mountainous Regions of Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Ayat Ullah

    (Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16500 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic)

  • Vladimir Verner

    (Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16500 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic)

  • Mustapha Yakubu Madaki

    (Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16500 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic)

  • Faizal Adams

    (College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi P.O. Box Up 1279, Ghana)

  • Miroslava Bavorova

    (Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 16500 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Access to credit plays an important role in the adoption of modern agricultural practices, such as better seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers, as well as in the sustainable utilization of land by smallholder farmers. This study explores the dynamics of smallholders’ access to and utilization of informal credit to manage local farming systems. The data were collected from rural households in the Dir Kohistan mountainous region of Pakistan in 2021. A bivariate probit model was employed to analyze the data from 300 randomly selected farming households. Our findings indicate that a significant proportion of respondents (70%) reported having access to informal credit, with 65% actively utilizing credit to bolster the economic viability of their farms. This study reveals various strategies that farmers employ in response to credit constraints. The majority of farmers (69%) prioritize meeting their own farm/household needs. Social networks, particularly friends, emerge as key sources of informal credit (58.1%). The results of the bivariate probit regression analysis identify positive relationships with fellow farmers and neighbors/relatives, along with a lower perceived risk, as the most significant factors influencing access to and utilization of informal credit. Therefore, our study recommends the promotion of relationships and linkages among farmers through facilitated networking events, introducing risk mitigation measures and promoting financial literacy programs to empower smallholder capacities on the credit market. Policymakers are urged to recognize the role of social relationships and consider policies that promote community credit practices for the overall financial well-being of farmers, especially in more isolated mountain areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Ayat Ullah & Vladimir Verner & Mustapha Yakubu Madaki & Faizal Adams & Miroslava Bavorova, 2024. "Factors Influencing Informal Credit Access and Utilization among Smallholder Farmers: Insights from Mountainous Regions of Pakistan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:10:p:1764-:d:1492950
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/10/1764/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/10/1764/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Solomon Asfaw & Federica Di Battista & Leslie Lipper, 2016. "Agricultural Technology Adoption under Climate Change in the Sahel: Micro-evidence from Niger," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 25(5), pages 637-669.
    2. Santos, Paulo & Barrett, Christopher B., 2011. "Persistent poverty and informal credit," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 337-347, November.
    3. Christiaan Grootaert & Gi-Taik Oh & Anand Swamy, 2002. "Social Capital, Household Welfare and Poverty in Burkina Faso," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 11(1), pages 4-38, March.
    4. Ayat Ullah & Nasir Mahmood & Alam Zeb & Harald Kächele, 2020. "Factors Determining Farmers’ Access to and Sources of Credit: Evidence from the Rain-Fed Zone of Pakistan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Cheng, Xiaoyu & Wang, Jianying & Chen, Kevin Z., 2022. "Does villager social capital hinder poverty targeting? Evidence from poverty-stricken county of Western China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Hansen, Kory & Kim, Jin Ju & Suffian, Stephen & Mehta, Khanjan, 2015. "Leveraging informal lending mechanisms to facilitate technology transfer and microenterprise in developing countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 65-75.
    7. Abdul-Hanan Abdallah, 2016. "Agricultural credit and technical efficiency in Ghana: is there a nexus?," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 76(2), pages 309-324, July.
    8. Jayne, T.S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Headey, Derek D., 2014. "Land pressures, the evolution of farming systems, and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-17.
    9. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    10. Hickey, Gordon M. & Pouliot, Mariève & Smith-Hall, Carsten & Wunder, Sven & Nielsen, Martin R., 2016. "Quantifying the economic contribution of wild food harvests to rural livelihoods: A global-comparative analysis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 122-132.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stoeffler, Quentin & Opuz, Gülce, 2022. "Price, information and product quality: Explaining index insurance demand in Burkina Faso," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Deininger, Klaus & Savastano, Sara & Xia, Fang, 2017. "Smallholders’ land access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A new landscape?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 78-92.
    3. Ta Nhat Linh & Hoang Thanh Long & Le Van Chi & Le Thanh Tam & Philippe Lebailly, 2019. "Access to Rural Credit Markets in Developing Countries, the Case of Vietnam: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Jisha, K K & Palakkeel, Prashobhan, 2023. "Availability of agricultural credit: determinants, marginal effect, and predicted probability," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 9(4), December.
    5. Liqiong Lin & Weizhuo Wang & Christopher Gan & David A. Cohen & Quang T.T Nguyen, 2019. "Rural Credit Constraint and Informal Rural Credit Accessibility in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Uduakobong Inyang, 2022. "Risks to credit access in a developing economy:Focus on household characteristics and the choice of credit in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(2), pages 228-240, March.
    7. Assaf Razin & Efraim Sadka & Chi-Wa Yuen, 1999. "An Information-Based Model of Foreign Direct Investment: The Gains from Trade Revisited," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 6(4), pages 579-596, November.
    8. Innes, Robert, 1987. "Adverse Selection And Tax Externalities In A Model Of Entrepreneurial Investment," Working Papers 225812, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    9. Li, Yuanyuan & Wigniolle, Bertrand, 2017. "Endogenous information revelation in a competitive credit market and credit crunch," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 127-141.
    10. Janvier D. Nkurunziza, 2005. "Reputation and Credit without Collateral in Africa`s Formal Banking," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2005-02, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    11. Cowling, Marc, 2010. "The role of loan guarantee schemes in alleviating credit rationing in the UK," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 36-44, April.
    12. Weill, Laurent, 2011. "How corruption affects bank lending in Russia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 230-243, June.
    13. Popoyan, Lilit & Napoletano, Mauro & Roventini, Andrea, 2017. "Taming macroeconomic instability: Monetary and macro-prudential policy interactions in an agent-based model," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 117-140.
    14. Hartarska, Valentina M. & Nadolnyak, Denis A., 2012. "Financing Constraints and Access to Credit in Post Crisis Environment: Evidence from New Farmers in Alabama," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124882, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Jiao Wang & Lima Zhao & Arnd Huchzermeier, 2021. "Operations‐Finance Interface in Risk Management: Research Evolution and Opportunities," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(2), pages 355-389, February.
    16. Andriakopoulos, Konstantinos & Ladas, Augoustinos & Andriakopoulos, Panagiotis, 2020. "Bank efficiency and leasing in U.S.A. banking system," MPRA Paper 112645, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Djimoudjiel, Djekonbe & T. Rostand, Dany Dombu & MBATINA NODJI, NDILENGAR, 2024. "What lessons does the COVID-19 pandemic teach us about banking liquidity and information share in the CEMAC zone?," MPRA Paper 119666, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Jan 2024.
    18. Cowling, Marc & Ughetto, Elisa & Lee, Neil, 2018. "The innovation debt penalty: Cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 166-176.
    19. Kong, Dongmin & Pan, Yue & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Pengdong, 2020. "CEOs' hometown connections and access to trade credit: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Mare Sarr & Erwin Bulte & Chris Meissner & Tim Swanson, 2011. "On the looting of nations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 353-380, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:10:p:1764-:d:1492950. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.