Small farmer credit, summary papers

The research focused on three principal themes: The role of institutional credit in small farmer development; the major institutional alternatives for delivering small farmer credit; and certain policy issues, such as interest rates, that appear to be critical to the success of these programs. The tentative conclusions drawn from the research were refined during a series of ten field workshops in the spring of 1973 and are presented in summary form in this volume. The entire evaluation is limited by the fact that credit is only one of the factors in a small farmer development strategy, and, though the study found a handle on the broader subject, it cannot, in itself, recommend an overall solution to the small farmer problems.