Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

Joseph Masinde Wabwire

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

Joseph Masinde Wabwire

Published in International Journal of Finance and Banking Research (Volume 5, Issue 3)

Received: 29 May 2019 Accepted: 4 July 2019 Published: 16 July 2019

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Abstract

Financing agriculture has become a critical service in enabling the full realization of the agricultural sector’s potential. The allocative efficiency of financial services provided by financial institutions in Africa to the agricultural sector remains low. Further, several institutions aimed at facilitating small holder farmers’ access to credit have failed to deliver it at the right time and in the right proportions. Nevertheless, in the advent of new financial regimes and innovations such as financial technology, the uptake and utilization of financial services among the small holder farmers in Kenya was expected to increase. This, however, has not been the case. Hence this study which sought to determine the influence of technological factors on the utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. The target population for this study was small holder farmers from Nakuru, Busia and Kirinyaga Counties in Kenya. A study sample size of 496 small holder farmers was obtained through purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Data was collected using researcher developed questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis with the aid of stata. The findings revealed that technological factors did not have any significant effect on utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. This was because the farmers were yet to appreciate and fully take advantage of technology enabled financial services to increase their levels of inclusion. From the findings of the study, the recommendations were that at the national level, policy makers should encourage more investment in the digitalization of small scale farming activities so as to encourage more technology adoption.

Published in	International Journal of Finance and Banking Research (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13
Page(s)	55-63
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Technology, Financial Inclusion, Formal Financial Services, Smallholder Farmers

References

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APA Style

Joseph Masinde Wabwire. (2019). Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya. International Journal of Finance and Banking Research, 5(3), 55-63. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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ACS Style

Joseph Masinde Wabwire. Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya. Int. J. Finance Bank. Res. 2019, 5(3), 55-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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AMA Style

Joseph Masinde Wabwire. Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya. Int J Finance Bank Res. 2019;5(3):55-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13,
  author = {Joseph Masinde Wabwire},
  title = {Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya},
  journal = {International Journal of Finance and Banking Research},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {55-63},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijfbr.20190503.13},
  abstract = {Financing agriculture has become a critical service in enabling the full realization of the agricultural sector’s potential. The allocative efficiency of financial services provided by financial institutions in Africa to the agricultural sector remains low. Further, several institutions aimed at facilitating small holder farmers’ access to credit have failed to deliver it at the right time and in the right proportions. Nevertheless, in the advent of new financial regimes and innovations such as financial technology, the uptake and utilization of financial services among the small holder farmers in Kenya was expected to increase. This, however, has not been the case. Hence this study which sought to determine the influence of technological factors on the utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. The target population for this study was small holder farmers from Nakuru, Busia and Kirinyaga Counties in Kenya. A study sample size of 496 small holder farmers was obtained through purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Data was collected using researcher developed questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis with the aid of stata. The findings revealed that technological factors did not have any significant effect on utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. This was because the farmers were yet to appreciate and fully take advantage of technology enabled financial services to increase their levels of inclusion. From the findings of the study, the recommendations were that at the national level, policy makers should encourage more investment in the digitalization of small scale farming activities so as to encourage more technology adoption.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya
AU - Joseph Masinde Wabwire
Y1 - 2019/07/16
PY - 2019
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13
DO - 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13
T2 - International Journal of Finance and Banking Research
JF - International Journal of Finance and Banking Research
JO - International Journal of Finance and Banking Research
SP - 55
EP - 63
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2472-2278
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13
AB - Financing agriculture has become a critical service in enabling the full realization of the agricultural sector’s potential. The allocative efficiency of financial services provided by financial institutions in Africa to the agricultural sector remains low. Further, several institutions aimed at facilitating small holder farmers’ access to credit have failed to deliver it at the right time and in the right proportions. Nevertheless, in the advent of new financial regimes and innovations such as financial technology, the uptake and utilization of financial services among the small holder farmers in Kenya was expected to increase. This, however, has not been the case. Hence this study which sought to determine the influence of technological factors on the utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. The target population for this study was small holder farmers from Nakuru, Busia and Kirinyaga Counties in Kenya. A study sample size of 496 small holder farmers was obtained through purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Data was collected using researcher developed questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis with the aid of stata. The findings revealed that technological factors did not have any significant effect on utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. This was because the farmers were yet to appreciate and fully take advantage of technology enabled financial services to increase their levels of inclusion. From the findings of the study, the recommendations were that at the national level, policy makers should encourage more investment in the digitalization of small scale farming activities so as to encourage more technology adoption.
VL - 5
IS - 3
ER -

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Joseph Masinde Wabwire

Management Science Department, Chuka Univerity, Chuka, Kenya

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APA Style

Joseph Masinde Wabwire. (2019). Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya. International Journal of Finance and Banking Research, 5(3), 55-63. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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ACS Style

Joseph Masinde Wabwire. Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya. Int. J. Finance Bank. Res. 2019, 5(3), 55-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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AMA Style

Joseph Masinde Wabwire. Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya. Int J Finance Bank Res. 2019;5(3):55-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13,
  author = {Joseph Masinde Wabwire},
  title = {Technological Factors and Utilization of Formal Financial Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya},
  journal = {International Journal of Finance and Banking Research},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {55-63},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20190503.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijfbr.20190503.13},
  abstract = {Financing agriculture has become a critical service in enabling the full realization of the agricultural sector’s potential. The allocative efficiency of financial services provided by financial institutions in Africa to the agricultural sector remains low. Further, several institutions aimed at facilitating small holder farmers’ access to credit have failed to deliver it at the right time and in the right proportions. Nevertheless, in the advent of new financial regimes and innovations such as financial technology, the uptake and utilization of financial services among the small holder farmers in Kenya was expected to increase. This, however, has not been the case. Hence this study which sought to determine the influence of technological factors on the utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. The target population for this study was small holder farmers from Nakuru, Busia and Kirinyaga Counties in Kenya. A study sample size of 496 small holder farmers was obtained through purposive and stratified random sampling techniques. Data was collected using researcher developed questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis with the aid of stata. The findings revealed that technological factors did not have any significant effect on utilization of formal financial services among small holder farmers. This was because the farmers were yet to appreciate and fully take advantage of technology enabled financial services to increase their levels of inclusion. From the findings of the study, the recommendations were that at the national level, policy makers should encourage more investment in the digitalization of small scale farming activities so as to encourage more technology adoption.},
 year = {2019}
}

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