Socio-Economic Development of Small Farmers by Providing Micro-Credit Facilities under the Crop Maximization Project in District Charsadda, Pakistan
Socio-Economic Development of Small Farmers by Providing Micro-Credit Facilities under the Crop Maximization Project in District Charsadda, Pakistan
Bahadar Sher Khattak1, Muhammad Kaleem1, Waqas2*, Humaira Naz1 and Muhammad Yasir3
ABSTRACT
The Crop Maximization Project (CMP) was initiated with the help of Government of Pakistan which aimed at uplifting the socioeconomic conditions of the small farmers through various agricultural interventions. One of the important and essential interventions of CMP was micro-credit facilities to small farmers. The current research study focused on the core objective of the CMP aimed at finding out the effect of micro-credit intervention on small farmers and how their socioeconomic status improved during the span of the project. The project was introduced to the two Union Councils (UCs), the Rajjar-II and Sarki Tetara, of District Charsadda. These two UCs were purposively selected to collect 150 samples for the study. A well-structured interview schedule was developed to collect data which was pre-tested before starting the actual process of data collection. The total sample size of the study area was 150, randomly selected for interviews. After the data analysis, it was found that the majority of the respondents (83.3%) who were small farmers acquired and utilized micro-credit in establishing income generating entrepreneurs, purchased quality seeds, fertilizers and small scale modern technology. These innovations brought substantial enhancement in their farm productivity and income that ultimately improved those farmers’ socioeconomic position. However, 16.7% of the respondents’ remains deprived of acquiring the micro-credit facilities of the project where no change in their livelihood conditions was observed. Overall, this study has significant association between the socioeconomic development of small farmers and micro-credit intervention of CMP. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that micro-credit facilities should be provided to all farmers under any prospective agriculture projects to achieve optimum results in farmers’ farm productivity.
To share on other social networks, click on any share button. What are these?
