Abstract

The greatest challenge to food security is low productivity emanating from slow growth in the agricultural sector and one of the reasons for this is little or no access to financial resources by producers. Credit is one of the empowerment tools that have the potential to boost the productivity, increase food security and change the life of farmers from a situation of abject poverty to a more dignified life in the long run.  Using a household survey data from United State Agency for International Development’s feed the future initiative; this study employed the logistic regression model to investigate the factors influencing households’ demand for  agricultural credit placing much emphasis on membership to organization. A total sample size of 2,330 farm households selected from Northern Ghana was used.  The results of the logistic regression model revealed significant and positive variables such as age, education, group membership and source of credit. We therefore call on stakeholders to encourage formation of cooperative groups to enable farmers pull resources together or streamline loan application procedures, intensify education of farmers on loan procedures and promote flexibility in types of collateral demanded by financial institutions in order to enhance access.

Key words: Credit access, farmers, food security, Ghana, logit model.