A Literature Review on the Usage of Mobile Financial Services for Smallholder Farming
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22105/tqfb.v1i1.31Keywords:
Agriculture, Mobile finance, Smallholder farmingAbstract
Although it is unclear whether these services are reaching their full potential, mobile technology may assist smallholder farmers in receiving better financial services. This article fills the lacuna by providing an exploratory overview of the research on the effects of financial services offered by mobile phones on farmers, with a slight focus on Africa and other developing countries. The review emphasizes how little empirical data there is in this field. Results imply that farmers profited from advances in risk management, input management, post-harvest sales and loan disbursement ease. The evaluation also identifies several methodological flaws, most notably the use of lack of creditworthiness data and the diversion of resources by smallholder farmers.
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