Collection of farm production data for credit programs in developing countries

This study reviews these two data sources in Honduras and the Dominican Republic (DR) and suggests ways to improve their use and extend that use to other developing countries. Enterprise budgets provide data on agricultural production inputs enabling credit institutions to set loan limits and withdrawal and repayment schedules. In both Honduras and the DR, it was found that enterprise budgets lacked uniformity; ignored regional differences, lacked sufficient detail, and relied on inaccurate data derived from field personnel estimates. To rectify these problems, field testing of alternative methodologies revealed that institutional responsibility for budgets should lie in a single office; that direct farmer interviews were much more reliable and detailed data sources; that involving field personnel in designing and preparing enterprise budgets ensured staff cooporation in the implementation phase; and that adequate supervision of interviewing and budget preparation is needed to assure data quality. Farm records, in turn, are histories of farmers" operations, and provide data on production costs and returns, input use, efficiency levels, and inventory changes. They are often prepared for whole-farm and agricultural sector analysis which is seldom performed in developing countries. Furthermore, farm records are expensive to prepare because they are so comprehensive and require considerable staff training. The interviewer must be diligent, reliable, and competent, and farmers must be capable and willing to participate and keep accurate records. Farm records are valuable educational tools, however, for teaching farm management to both farmers and credit agents. For use of these data methods in other developing countries, a single institution should be solely responsible for their preparation and performance, and the agricultural sector"s demand for a more sophisticated budgeting process should match the capabilities of the budget office. A 48-item bibliography (1953-81) in English and Spanish is appended.