Access to Digital Credit for Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

Abstract

Digital finance in agriculture is a nascent technology which could help improve rural financial inclusion. In an experimental evaluation of a digital lending product for farmers in Southern Ghana, credit increases farm investments but has few statistically significant average effects on downstream outcomes. However, logistical challenges generated imperfect compliance with the treatment assignment, with some loans delivered in a timely fashion for agricultural investments and others coming later. We cautiously exploit this unplanned non-experimental implementation heterogeneity and conclude that agriculturally-focused digital credit platforms have potential to tackle persistent rural financial market imperfections, but the timing seems critical and deserves further study.

Keywords: digital finance, digital credit, small-holder farmer, microcredit, Ghana

JEL Classification: O12, O16