Factors Affecting Loan Repayment Rate from ACSI among Smallholder Farmers: In the case of Habru District, Eastern Amara Regional State, Ethiopia
Abstract This paper aims to examine factors affecting loan repayment rate from Amhara Credit and Saving Institutions (ACSI) among smallholder farmers in Habru district, Ethiopia. In this study, both primary and secondary data sources were used. The study employed a combination of multi-stage purposive and stratified sampling techniques in the selection of 384 borrowers from small-holder farmers in the study area. The Tobit model result found that a total of 10 out of the total 15 explanatory variables involved in the model were found to be statistically significant. According to the result demographic factors (age and household size), socio-economic factors (educational level, land size, livestock size, non-farm income, purpose of borrowing), and institutional factors (road distance, contact with development agents, training received on loan use) were among the factors that influenced loan repayment rate of small-holder borrowers in the study area. Education level, land size, livestock size in TLU, non-farm income, purpose of borrowing, contact with agricultural extension agents, and training received on loan use were found to determine loan repayment rate of borrowers positively and significantly, while age, family size, and road distance were found negatively and significantly determine loan repayment rate in the study area. Therefore, the overall result of this study underlined the great importance of the significant factors to profoundly achieve high repayment rate on borrowed funds from ACSI in the study area.