MICROCREDIT SOURCES AND LIVELIHOOD OUTCOMES OF SMALL SCALE RICE FARMERS IN THE HOHOE MUNICIPALITY, VOLTA REGION, GHANA

Microcredit has been identified as a means of giving loans to small scale farmers to help them undertake sustainable production. The study sought to investigate how services and products offered by different microfinance service providers influence the livelihoods of small scale rice farmers in the Akpafu area of the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select 140 small scale rice farmers. Individual interviews and focus group discussions were used for data collection. Three sources of credit namely: formal, informal and semi-formal were studied. Results indicated that the three major sources of credit had different modes of delivery, different forms of credit, and different terms of repayment and also had differences in the times of delivery of products and services. In terms of how sources of credit influenced the livelihood outcomes of the farmers, it was realized that the three credit sources generally had significant influence on the livelihood outcomes such as food security, farmer’s savings and ability to pay bills.