Access to Finance from Financial Institutions among the Smallholder’s Cashew Nut Producers in Tandahimba District – Tanzania

ABSTRACT: The study was carried out among the cashew nut producers in Tandahimba District to identify factors that influence smallholder’s cashew nut producers to access finance from financial institutions. The study employed a cross-sectional research design, whereby a sample size of 100 respondents was used. Data were collected through a household survey and interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed by using binary logistic regression and content analysis respectively. The results show that factors influencing cashew nut smallholder’s producers to access finance from financial institutions are: age of the producers’ (p = 0.001), having financial statements for at least three years of producers’ in cooperatives (p = 0.027), cooperative membership to cooperative union (p = 0.014), absence of criminal cases (p = 0.042), certificate of maximum liability from registrar of cooperatives (p = 0.011), minutes of the meeting which approved application for the loan for cooperatives (p = 0.041), farm/ land size (p = 0.044) and effectiveness of cooperative association in linking producers’ to getting a loan from a financial institution (p = 0.032). The study concludes that, the identified factors can be used for efficient access to finances among smallholder’s cashew nut producers in Tandahimba district.
KEYWORDS – finance, financial institutions, smallholder farmer and warehouse receipt system