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Review of Rural and Agricultural Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa

EPAR TECHNICAL REPORT #307

Wed, 09/30/2015

AUTHORS: Pierre Biscaye, Chris Clark, Katie Panhorst Harris, C. Leigh Anderson, Mary Kay Gugerty

ABSTRACT: 

This report reviews and summarizes the existing evidence on the impact of access to financial services/products on measures of production, income and wealth, consumption and food security, and resilience for smallholder farmers  and other rural customers and their households in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study covers four main types of financial products/services: 1) credit; 2) savings; 3) insurance; 4) transactional products. We also review the very limited evidence on the effectiveness of bundling these products/services together and of combining them with other offerings such as trainings or support for access to markets, and of providing them via digital channels. We note when financial products/services have been specifically designed to serve the needs of rural customers or smallholder farmers, since the needs of these groups are often very different from those of other stakeholders.

See the final report posted by the MasterCard Foundation’s Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab.

View blog post summarizing this work. 

TYPE OF RESEARCH: Literature Review

RESEARCH TOPIC CATEGORY: Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Livelihoods; Finance & Investment; Information & Mobile Technology

POPULATION(S): Rural Populations; Smallholder Farmers

GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS: Sub-Saharan Africa

Downloadable Documents

Full Report

Results Coding Spreadsheet