The impact of finance on welfare of smallholder farmers in Ghana
Speaker: Ralph Essem Nordjo, PhD candidate in Development Finance at the University of Stellenbosch Business School
Discussant: Kate Maclean, senior lecturer in Social Geography, Birkbeck University of London
Venue: Lower meeting room, LIDC, 36 Gordon Square, London
Time: 12:30 to 14:00
Date: 7 February 2018
Abstract
Access to finance plays a significant role in improving household welfare through engagement in production related activities. However, access to finance remains a challenge to smallholder farmers, especially in Sub-Saharan African countries. This study estimates the effect of access to finance on smallholder farmers' welfare in the Northern Region of Ghana. Using field survey data, we compared the average difference in welfare between farmers with access to finance and non-equivalent control groups. The authors control for selection bias to the net effect of finance on the welfare of smallholder farmers.
About the Speaker
Ralph Essem Nordjo is a PhD Candidate in Development Finance at the University of Stellenbosch Business School in Cape Town – South Africa. His research is focused on an evaluation of the Danish International Development Assistance’s (DANIDA) Agricultural Value Chain Facility (AVCF) project on Smallholder Farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana.
About the Discussant
Kate is a feminist geographer who explores how economic development recreates and challenges gendered concepts, identities and experiences. She has worked on microfinance, rural livelihoods, the financial crisis, contraband and urban regeneration, mostly with a focus on Latin America.