Title: Tenure security and access to inclusive rural financial services for smallholder farmers: challenges and opportunities in rural development projects

Authors: Giulia Barbanente; Harold Liversage; Jonathan N. Agwe; Michael Hamp

Addresses: Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Via Paolo di Dono 44, 00142 Roma, Italy ' Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Via Paolo di Dono 44, 00142 Roma, Italy ' Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Via Paolo di Dono 44, 00142 Roma, Italy ' Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Via Paolo di Dono 44, 00142 Roma, Italy

Abstract: Around the world, 500 million smallholder families only receive an estimated 29% of the financial resources that they need to invest in agricultural production and improve their livelihood. Land tenure is a key factor that can support smallholder farmers to access financial resources. This study deepens the analysis on the role of land tenure for smallholder farmers' access to inclusive rural financial services, combining a review of operational documents and literature, with new insights from the field. The study mobilises the knowledge and experience of rural finance experts from across regions, to reflect on ongoing challenges and available tools. The study looks beyond the conventional supply-side-focused approach on tenure security and access to finance, offering a new perspective on a broader set of linkages, both direct and indirect, that are established at the local level between these two essential and necessary enablers of production.

Keywords: inclusive rural finance; innovative financial tools; tenure security; land rights; customary tenure; rural development; smallholder farmers; rural women.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2024.139817

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2024 Vol.37 No.3, pp.309 - 339

Received: 18 Jan 2020
Accepted: 06 Aug 2020
Published online: 08 Jul 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article