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Purpose: The agricultural sector remains the backbone of several emerging economies, including Kenya, where it contributes 34% to its gross domestic product (GDP). However, access to financing for agricultural activities appears to be very low compared to developed economies. Following this, governments in a number of countries have sought to introduce banking sector regulations to facilitate increased funding to the agricultural sector. Taking motivation of the interest rate capping regulations by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in 2016, this paper examined the effect of these interest rate ceiling regulations on agri-lending in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs random effects technique to estimate a panel data of 26 commercial banks in Kenya from 2014 to 2018 using the ratio of loans to agricultural sector to gross loans and the natural logarithm of loans to agricultural sector as proxies for agri-lending. Bank size, equity, asset quality, liquidity, revenue concentration and bank concentration are employed as control variables. Findings: The results of the panel regression estimations show that the introduction of the interest cap resulted in increases in the proportion and growth in agri-lending compared with the pre-interest cap period. In addition, large banks and highly capitalised banks were found to be associated with lower agri-lending, with differences in the effects across pre-cap and post-cap periods. Practical implications: From a policy perspective, the findings highlight the effectiveness of interest rate capping in meeting this objective and supports the calls for strengthening cooperation between the government and key stakeholders in the financial sector. This will allow for the effective enforcement of policies by the regulatory powers in a manner that guarantees sound and dynamic financial systems, particularly within the agricultural sector. Originality/value: As far as the authors are aware, this the first paper to examine the effect of the interest rate cap regulation on agri-lending in Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes that agricultural group guarantee loans (AGGLs) are indeed an innovative tool used by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to extend credit to resource-disadvantaged smallholder farmers regarded as not credit-worthy by traditional lenders. It disproves popular literature that one requires assets to access formal credit and that extremely poor farmers are segregated from borrowing citing a lack of collateral to pledge to both group members and to the lender. This paper indicates that efforts to get smallholder farmers out of destitution should be redirected to addressing other group credit aspects other than increasing participation. Multi-stage sampling obtained 161 agricultural loan borrowers of Promotion of Rural Initiative Development Enterprises (PRIDE) microfinance, a formal Tier III credit institution in Uganda. Both borrowers of the group (AGGLs) and Individual (Individual Loan borrowers, IL) loans were selected for comparison purposes. Semi-structured interviews and in-depth discussions with farmer groups (focus group discussions, FGDs) collected both quantitative and qualitative data for the study. Descriptive statistics analysis presented the socioeconomic characteristics of the borrowers while the binary logistic regression model determined the factors that influence participation in AGGLs. The findings indicated that IL borrowers were better off in socioeconomic aspects such as income than AGGL borrowers. The study results revealed that the probability of participating in AGGLs decreases with an increase in the number of asset ownership and an increase in household expenses, particularly education. This implies that AGGLs are socially perceived to be a "facility for the poor", supporting the motives of MFIs. Agricultural group guarantee loans are associated with smaller loan amounts due to fear of default. These smaller amounts limit investment and consequent income improvement. This is the first paper to study participation in AGGLs offered by a formal credit institution in Uganda. Other group loans offered in Uganda do not target agriculture, those that do, are offered by savings and credit cooperative organizations (SACCOs) informally started by farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic statistics are frequently produced at an administrative level such as the subnational division. However, these measures may lack sufficient local variation for effective analysis of local economic development patterns and exposure to natural hazards. Agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) is a critical indicator for measurement of the primary sector, on which more than 2.5 billion people depend for their livelihoods, and it provides a key source of income for the entire household. Through a data-fusion method based on cross-entropy optimization, this paper disaggregates national and subnational administrative statistics of agricultural GDP into a global gridded dataset at approximately 10×10 km for the year 2010 using satellite-derived indicators of the components that make up agricultural GDP, i.e., crop, livestock, fishery, hunting and forestry production. To illustrate the use of the new dataset, the paper estimates the exposure of areas with at least one extreme drought during 2000 to 2009 to agricultural GDP, which amounts to around USD 432 billion of agricultural GDP circa 2010, with nearly 1.2 billion people living in those areas. The data are available on the World Bank Development Data Hub (10.57966/0j71-8d56;). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the economic effects of the US sanctions on Sudan. The paper aims to identify the concept of sanctions and their forms. The paper also aims at the most important US sanctions on Sudan. The paper also aims to identify the most important economic effects on the US sanctions on Sudan. The paper used both the historical approach and the methodology. Descriptive to identify the historical development of US sanctions on Sudan. The paper also uses the analytical approach to identify the most important economic impacts on US sanctions in Sudan. Forms of American sanctions on Sudan in political, economic and informational sanctions, the political administration in both Sudan and the United States of America should overthrow the principle of common interest in building relations between the two countries. Sudan should rely on investing its internal resources to cover the deficit caused by the American sanctions on Sudan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper dealt on empirical trend analysis of interest rate and value of agricultural finance in Nigeria between 1986 and 2017. It was the specific objectives of the study to: describe trends of interest rate and value of formal agricultural funding in Nigeria for the period 1986– 2017; determine the path of progress of interest rate and value of formal agricultural finance in Nigeria for the period under review; compare rate of growth of interest rate and value of formal agricultural funding in Nigeria within the reference period; and analyze trend of interest rate in Nigeria within the reference period; explain the cause and effect relationship of interest rate and value of formal agricultural finance in Nigeria within the reference period. Secondary data was used for the study and these were subjected to descriptive statistics and econometric analysis. However, the trend revealed a persistent increase in the interest rate between 1986 and 1998 coinciding with the Structural Adjustment Policy era. The interest rate then dropped slightly between 2000 and 2006 and then began to trend upwards from 2007 to 2017. These are manifestation of volatility of interest rate to agricultural funding. In overall status, interest rate exhibited negative non-considerable trend while volume of formal agricultural finance exhibited positive trend within period 1986- 2017 in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that the monetary authorities in Nigeria should maintain a stable interest rate policy to ensure that adequate formal financing flow from banks to the agricultural sector. Commercial banks should concentrate on mobilizing savings by charging lower interest rate and providing handsome return to depositors which would increase funds flow and make it available for formal financing of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops two-stage inverse data envelopment analysis models with undesirable outputs to formulate resource plans for 16 Chinese listed commercial banks whose outputs are increased and overall efficiency is kept unchanged in the short term. We use these models to meet three different output targets, namely, increasing both the desirable and undesirable outputs by the same percentage, increasing these outputs by different percentages, and increasing only the desirable outputs while keeping the undesirable outputs unchanged. We find that operation cost and interest expense are more flexible than labor in the adjustment process and that deposits have no obvious law of change. The findings of this work provide some suggestions for bank managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of agricultural plants for sowing and planning the economic success in production is done in conditions of uncertainty and high risk. The farmer plans crops for sowing on the basis of available data and experiences. Yield in the next year is determined by quality and farmland size, the structure of husbandry production, machinery supply, possibility to provide necessary working capital under favorable conditions, adequate labor and climatic conditions. The factors, which cause the biggest uncertainty in achieving returns in agricultural production, can be quantified by the valuation method. This paper presents the valuation method at planning the structure of sowing: wheat, chamomile and mint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally held that one mechanism to enable inclusive growth in Tanzania is enabling farmers to access credit to raise productivity and incomes. The formalisation of property rights in Tanzania is being undertaken by a multiplicity of actors at great expense to donors, individuals and the government. While there have been a variety of different justifications for allocating Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) to farmers in Tanzania, perhaps the most prominent argument is that it will enable farmers to finally overcome the divide between ‘informal’ customary rights and the formal banking sector. CCROs would provide the collateral that would induce banks to lend money to small-scale farmers. As part of a six-year investigation in Manyara, Mbeya and Dodoma regions, our research team evaluated the impact of formalisation on farmers’ access to credit. The paper will present the results while pointing to the continuing institutional and market imperfections that perpetuate the formal divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 250,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since the mid-1990s. Studies -- both case studies of states and at the individual-level - attribute these deaths to credit crunches in the agrarian sector and increased debt burden among farmers. Most of the farm suicides have, however, taken place in five of India's 28 states, suggesting that adverse financial circumstances affected farmers only in some states. Why did mounting debt and credit crunches affect farmers only in some states? This paper offers an answer by relating farm suicides to the financial reforms the country undertook since the 1990s. Using an instrumental variables approach, it shows how increased competition in the banking sector diverted lending away from agriculture to create dire economic conditions that facilitated farm suicides in some Indian states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]