Determinants of access to credit and its impact on household food security in Karaga district of the Northern region of Ghana

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Date
March, 2015
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Abstract
This study attempts to measure access to credit and its influence on food security in Karaga District of the Northern region of Ghana. The thesis assessed access to credit from both formal and informal sources. The study looked at the farm household characteristics, household assets, farm size and crop produced, demographic factors, farm and non-farm income activities in the study area , household head access to credit and forms of credits accessed, household livestock wealth, number of times eaten in a day by the household and month of stock depletion as measures of food security. The study also employed multivariate tobit model that estimated the determinants of credit. A chi-square test was used to link access to credit to food security. The study revealed that access to credit has significant impact on the household food security status of the farmers. Multivariate tobit estimates revealed that socio-economic factors such as age, male, household size, education, farm size and farmer-based organisation membership positively affect access to credit and subsequently food security. Also, institutional factors such as credit worthiness and guarantor had positive effects on access to credit and food security. Finally all locational dummies except Nyingali and Pishigu had positive influence on credit access and food security.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
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