The two-faced challenge of the credit constraints limiting smallholder farmers’ irrigation investments

Lefore, Nicole; Balana, Bedru; and Ringler, Claudia. 2021. The two-faced challenge of the credit constraints limiting smallholder farmers’ irrigation investments. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI). First available online on June 18, 2021. https://ilssi.tamu.edu/2021/06/18/the-two-faced-challenge-of-the-credit-constraints-limiting-smallholder-farmers-irrigation-investments/

Many smallholder farmers, especially women and other marginalized groups, face difficulty in accessing loans and other forms of credit. Such credit constraints are often considered a key barrier to adoption of mechanized agricultural technologies, such as small scale irrigation equipment. So how can this challenge be overcome? A new study indicates that the solution might be more complex than previously assumed.