This chapter analyses the access to and adequacy of formal sources in meeting the credit needs, particularly agricultural credit needs, of small farmers in India with the help of banking data, and data on the borrowing profiles of these households collected through the village surveys of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI).Three major institutions provide formal credit in the rural areas of India today: commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), and credit cooperatives. Commercial banks and RRBs – primarily sponsored by public sector commercial banks – together control about three-fourths of total agricultural credit.3 Despite being a late entrant into the field of rural credit, the contribution of commercial banks, after nationalisation, to shaping the history of development of rural and agricultural credit in India has been overwhelming. In course of time they have overtaken credit cooperatives, the oldest serving institution of rural credit, except in a few States where cooperatives continue to predominate even today
Grants for agricultural innovation are common but grant funds specifically targeted to smallholder farmers remain relatively rare. Nevertheless, they are receiving increasing recognition as a promising venue for agricultural innovation. They stimulate smallholders to experiment with improved practices, to become...
Des changements dans les agendas des politiques publiques des Comités Nationaux de l’Agriculture Familiale des Philippines, du Honduras, du Burkina Faso et du Sénégal seront soutenus techniquement et économiquement. La création d’un nouveau Comité au Tchad sera également appuyée....
Market access determines the income of agricultural households and incentivizes the cultivation of diverse crops. Markets in India are mostly unorganized with limited infrastructure limiting their ability to cater to quality requirements and specifications demanded by urban consumers. Therefore, parallel...
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve...
Developing competitive agro-industries is crucial for generating employment and income opportunities. It also contributes to enhancing the quality of, and the demand for, farm products. Agro-industries have the potential to provide employment for the rural population not only in farming,...
