Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in West African economic and Monetary Union

Financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in West African economic and Monetary Union Post-harvest losses are major problems faced by farmers and this is due to their poor access to credit considered as a low rate of financial inclusion. This paper aims at analysing the relationship between financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).Design/methodology/approachThe study engaged data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO] for post-harvest losses. Also, it engaged data from Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest [BCEAO] for financial inclusion over the period 2000 to 2020. The study applied the Instrumental Variable Two-Stage Least Squares (IV-2SLS) and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to test the robustness of the results.FindingsThe results show that financial inclusion reduces post-harvest losses by 1.2%. Therefore, given this result, policies to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion, is a necessary condition for the reduction of post-harvest losses.Social implicationsSocial implication of this study is that it contributes to the policy debate on the enhancement of food security by reducing post-harvest losses. The reduction in post-harvest losses and food security, will improve the welfare and livelihood of the society. This aims for the actualization of sustainable development goal of food and nutrition security (SDG-2).Originality/valueThe findings imply that efforts by governments and policymakers to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion would reduce post-harvest losses in West African countries that are members of the WAEMU. Also, investment in education, ICT and building warehouse for farmers will help in reducing post-harvest losses. It implies that educated farmers have more opportunities to be financially inclusive than those who are not educated. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Agricultural Finance Review Emerald Publishing

Financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in West African economic and Monetary Union

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/financial-inclusion-and-post-harvest-losses-in-west-african-economic-V8fJPof0T0

References (52)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0002-1466
DOI
10.1108/afr-06-2022-0076
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Post-harvest losses are major problems faced by farmers and this is due to their poor access to credit considered as a low rate of financial inclusion. This paper aims at analysing the relationship between financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).Design/methodology/approachThe study engaged data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO] for post-harvest losses. Also, it engaged data from Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest [BCEAO] for financial inclusion over the period 2000 to 2020. The study applied the Instrumental Variable Two-Stage Least Squares (IV-2SLS) and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to test the robustness of the results.FindingsThe results show that financial inclusion reduces post-harvest losses by 1.2%. Therefore, given this result, policies to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion, is a necessary condition for the reduction of post-harvest losses.Social implicationsSocial implication of this study is that it contributes to the policy debate on the enhancement of food security by reducing post-harvest losses. The reduction in post-harvest losses and food security, will improve the welfare and livelihood of the society. This aims for the actualization of sustainable development goal of food and nutrition security (SDG-2).Originality/valueThe findings imply that efforts by governments and policymakers to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion would reduce post-harvest losses in West African countries that are members of the WAEMU. Also, investment in education, ICT and building warehouse for farmers will help in reducing post-harvest losses. It implies that educated farmers have more opportunities to be financially inclusive than those who are not educated.

Journal

Agricultural Finance Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 14, 2023

Keywords: Access to credit; Agriculture; Farming households; Financial inclusion; Food security; Post-harvest losses; E44; P32; Q13

There are no references for this article.