ANALYSIS OF ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL CREDIT AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN BADE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF YOBE STATE, NIGERIA

This study analyzed access to agricultural credit among smallholder farmers in Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, Nigeria. The study employed the use of multistage sampling techniques to select 397 smallholder farmers that were used for the study. Primarily, a well structured questionnaire were used in data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis. The results revealed that majority of the respondents were middle-aged farmers with a mean age of 46.7 years, 67.0% were male, 64.0% had access to credit, 27.2% applied for credit facilities, 67.3% owned bank accounts, 62.0% had access to extension services, 27.0% belonged to cooperative societies, 68.3% had access to credit information and 79.6% perceived borrowing as risky. The result of Chi-square analysis revealed that cooperative membership (χ² = 15.191, p < 0.001), extension programme participation (χ² = 4.799, p = 0.028), bank account ownership (χ² = 5.137, p = 0.023), access to credit information (χ² = 6.806, p = 0.009) and perception of borrowing risk (χ² = 6.495, p = 0.011) significantly influenced farmers' access to credit, while access to extension services was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The study concluded that access to agricultural credit among smallholder farmers in the study area is significantly influenced by socio-economic and institutional factors. The study recommends that strengthening agricultural credit programs, simplifying collateral requirements and loan procedures, promoting cooperative membership, expanding extension services, improving financial literacy and increasing rural financial inclusion to enhance farmers' access to credit and agricultural productivity.