Unfulfilled loan demand among agro SMEs in Namibia

Abstract

Using a qualitative methodology approach, a case study research design by way of in-depth semi-structured interview(s) was followed to interview farmers, commercial banks, development banks, venture capitals and private equities to determine the financing options available for farmers and provide reasons why some financial institutions shy away from providing finance to agricultural enterprises. This study deviates from prior studies which have focused on small-scale farmers and subjected farmers’ access to finance to rural credit markets, mostly informal money lenders using secondary information mostly from household surveys to build econometric models. The study indicates that only about 33 percent of formal financial institutions are providing finance to agricultural SMEs. The lack of expertise and perception of risk were cited as top reasons why formal financial institutions find it hard to provide finance to agricultural SMEs. Building on opinions from other authors cited in this paper, we maintain that new financing mechanisms can be achieved by all types of financial institutions through learning from experiences by other successful countries.