The Role of Financial Cooperatives in Promoting Rice Production in Tanzania: A Case of Mvomero SACCO

The agricultural productivity in Tanzania remains below the target because of non-availability and/or inefficiency of available public institutional services for the respective sector. Many studies have explored the impact of the financial institutions and extension services on the agricultural productivity in Tanzania. However, no study has been conducted to find a nexus between Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) and rice production. Therefore, an empirical investigation of the role of SACCOs on rice productivity is the main aim of this study. The study used a dataset from 120 rice growers collected through face to face interviews from Mvomero district. Both descriptive statistics and regression model of double log form were used for data analysis. The survey findings revealed that access to financial and technical services from SACCOs enabled their members to manage the agricultural business successfully and ultimately increase the level of productivity. Similarly, results from the regression model of double log model depicted that; SACCOs’ membership, education status, level of productive inputs, land size, market accessibility and capital investments were statistically significant, implying positive influence on rice productivity in the study area. The findings stress the need to provide financial and technical support through the public and private institutions to ensure crop efficiency and attainment of food security in rural communities. Keywords: Rice Productivity, Food Security, SACCOs’ membership