Microcredit in developing agro-entrepreneurs food production in rural areas
2007
Darham, S. | Zainalabidin Mohamed | Mohd. Mansor Ismail | Amin Mahir Abdullah, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia). Dept. of Agribusiness and Information Systems | Mohammad Rezal Hamsah | Asnarulkhadi, Abu Samah, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia). Inst. of Social Science Studies
Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia(AIM) is one of the NGOs in the country which plays an important role in developing agro-entrepreneurs among the poor in the rural area. Established in 1987, the objective of AIM is to uplift the economic well-being of the poor by providing micro credit loan and non-financial assistance to increase their income through income generating program such as agricultural food production activities. Five hundred and sixty-seven agro-entrepreneurs who took loans from AIM were interviewed via structured questionnaire to gather information on their view of micro-credit in uplifting or otherwise in their standard of living. The factor analysis was applied to evaluate the possible factors that contributed to the success of borrowers in improving their livelihood. The analysis has induced six factors that positively contributed in developing agro-entrepreneurs among the rural poor. These factors were skills and knowledge development,self-esteem, cooperation, independent, asset accumulation and well-being. Thus microcredit contributes to the empowerment of agro-entrepreneurs among the rural poor. Given the positive impact of microcredit in empowering the rural poor engaging in agricultural activities, multi-pronged efforts on increasing agricultural productivity by providing technical and managerial support should be enhance by the relevant government agencies in lieu of the microcredit loan.
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