Effects of Agricultural Credit on Farm Profit and Households Welfare

This book is the product of a research work in Nigeria on the effects of agricultural targeted credit on farm profitability and households welfare. It investigated how production credit had been applied by resource poor smallholder farmers to stimulate agricultural production and enhance farm profitability and households welfare. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used for the study. Oyo and Ondo States were randomly selected from the six States in Southwest, Nigeria. Finally, 248 farmers from Ondo and 352 from Oyo State were interviewed. Data were collected on farmers' household characteristics, farm inputs and output, capital assets, institutional, welfare, enterprise and location variables. Descriptive statistics, probit, switching regression and ordinary least squares models were used for data analysis. The outcome provides insight into the various factors influencing farmers' access to credit, credit constraints, profitability of agricultural enterprises and welfare of farming households. The study concluded that access of farmers to credit positively affected profitability of agricultural production and welfare of households.