Micro-Credit Access and Profitability on Crop Production in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria

This study focused on the effect of micro-credit on the profitability of crop production in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. A sample size of 166 small-scale farmers was randomly selected from the farming communities in Orhionmwon Local Government Area. Ninety two (92) beneficiaries and 74 non-beneficiaries were randomly selected from the study area. A well-structured questionnaire and scheduled interviews were used to obtain data from the farmers. The data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and mean scores. The mean scores were compared using the t-test. Results showed that the respondents in the study area were almost uniformly distributed gender-wise. The females were however slightly more, both among the beneficiaries (58.7%) and non-beneficiaries (52.7%). The mean years of farming for both the credit beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were 32 years and 34 years respectively. Most of the farmers had farm holdings less than 2.5 ha. The profit margin obtained from the beneficiaries was higher than that of the non-beneficiaries. For maize, it was N145,40.66/ha against N139,178.69/ha, for yam, N671,588.06/ha against N552,927.93/ha, for cassava N377,194.99/ha against N223,000.74/ha and for plantain N681,416.68/ha against N430,756.59/ha. Untimely delivery of loan was indicated as the greatest constraint to loan acquisition by the beneficiaries while the non-beneficiaries identified high interest rate charges by the microfinance bank and distance as the greatest reasons for not accessing loans.