Dear All,
I have attached a one-pager that captures my thoughts on the need for developing a model or framework for recognising the effect of psychological and sociological factors in smallholder agriculture financing.
I think this is going to be a new frontier for the 21st Century.
Addressing issues at the levels of technology, literacy, awareness and enabling environment do not necessarily address issues of mind-set, paradigm, culture, etc which eventually remain and haunt many well-designed interventions.
Yet, some of the biggest obstacles to financial inclusion in the (especially rural) agriculture sector lie at this level and affects areas such as:
1) Conceptualisation, establishment and growth of a small-scale farm enterprise
2) Ability to clearly identify what the financing needs are
3) Loan repayment
Regards
Christian
Christian Chileshe