This study examined the impact of financial inclusion on productivity among maize farmers in Nigeria. The researchers found that the level of financial inclusion and productivity among maize farmers was low, with only 27.3% financially included and most having low productivity. Factors like tertiary education and gender positively influenced financial inclusion. The study concluded that financial inclusion has a positive impact on the productivity of maize farmers in Nigeria, so expanding access to financial services could help increase their productivity and incomes. The researchers recommend providing training and education programs for farmers and establishing more rural banking services to facilitate greater financial inclusion.

1. Agricultural Economics Department, University of
Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria
Impact of Financial Inclusion on Productivity
among the Maize Farmers in Nigeria
Sylvester, J., Salman, K. K., Dada, G. E., Sowunmi, F. A.

2. Introduction
 Agriculture is a major contributor to economic
growth in Nigeria, it employs more than 70% of
the labour force with GDP of 30% in 2021
 Maize is highly utilised domestically and export
 However, the level of maize productivity has
declined over time
 Maize productivity in 2020 was 1.59 tons/ha.
This is below the ideal yield of maize which is 5
tons/ha.
Source: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maize-
yields

3. Problem Statement
 Low productivity is associated with a number of reasons…
 Low productivity leads to low farm income, impacting poverty among maize
farmers.
 Having access to finance will enable the farmers to improve their productivity
performance
 Available financial support programs for farmers require farmers to have a bank
account
 Available literature informs that 38% of Adults globally are without a bank
account (Global Findex, 2014) while 45% of the population is financially
included in Nigeria

4. Research Questions & Objectives
 Research Questions
i. What is the level of financial inclusion among
maize farmers in Nigeria?
ii. What is the level of productivity among maize
farmers in Nigeria?
iii. What are the determinants of financial inclusion
among maize farmers in Nigeria?
iv. What is the impact of financial inclusion on
productivity among maize farmers in Nigeria?
 Objectives
i. Determine the level of financial inclusion among
the maize farmers in Nigeria,
ii. Determine the level of productivity among maize
farmers in Nigeria,
iii. Find out the factors that influence FI among maize
farmers in Nigeria, and to
iv. Determine the impact of financial inclusion on
productivity among the maize farmer in Nigeria.

5. Public Good Theory
 The public good theory of financial inclusion argues that
i. The delivery of formal financial services to the entire population is a public good
ii. Access to financial services to one individual does not reduce its availability to
others which means that all members of the population can be brought into the
formal financial sector and everyone will be better off.
iii. Under this theory, all members of the population are supposed to be financially
included where nobody is left out.

6. Methodology
 The study area was Nigeria
 Nigerian General Household Survey (GHS) data were utilized. Information on
the socioeconomic characteristics of maize farmers, input, and output financial
inclusion indicators was extracted and used for the study.
 Financial inclusion was measured by ownership of bank accounts by the
households, following Fowowe, (2020) while Productivity among the Maize
farmers was measured using the Total factor productivity.
 Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, logit analysis and Propensity
score matching

7. Results-Table 1: Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Maize Farmers in Nigeria
Socio-Economic Characteristics Frequencies Percentages
Sex
Male 955 82.6
Female 201 17.4
Mean Age(years) was 49.12
Mean Household Size was 5.9
Educational Level
No formal 60 5.2
Primary 477 41.3
Secondary 406 35.1
Tertiary 213 18.4
Marital Status
Married 880 76.1
Mean Farm Size(ha) was 1.43Ha
Credit Access
Yes 218 18.9
No 938 81.4
Total 1,156 100

8. Results - Table 2: Level of Financial Inclusion among the Maize Farmers
Financial inclusion Frequencies Percentages
Financially Included 316 27.3
Financially
Excluded
840 72.7
Total 1,156 100

9. Result-Table 3: Level of Productivity among the Maize Farmers
Productivity Category Freq. Percent
Low (0-0.33) 795 68.8
Moderate (0.34-0.66) 141 12.2
High (0.67-1) 219 18.9
Total 1.156 100
Mean Productivity (TFP) 0.293
Std. dev. 0.352

10. Result: Table 4: Determinant of Financial Inclusion among the Maize Farmers
Financial Inclusion Coef. Std. Err. Z P>z
Sex (Male) 0.4052* 0.2249 1.8 0.072
Age 0.0492 0.0364 1.35 0.177
Agesq -0.0005 0.0003 -1.31 0.189
Educational Level
(Primary)
0.4553 0.7582 0.6 0.548
Educational Level
(Secondary)
1.1988 0.7557 1.59 0.113
Educational Level
(Tertiary)
2.4240*** 0.7483 3.24 0.001
Household size -0.1395*** 0.0312 -4.47 0.000
Income 0.1551 0.1717 0.9 0.366
Rural -1.1569*** 0.1942 -5.96 0.000
North East -0.5528 0.3508 -1.58 0.115
North West -1.4112*** 0.3900 -3.62 0.000
South East -0.9735** 0.4116 -2.37 0.018
South West -0.1776 0.3123 -0.57 0.57
South south -0.3695 0.3800 -0.97 0.331
_cons -3.5048 2.1368 -1.64 0.101
Number of Obs=1,156
LR chi2(14)= 199.93
Prob>chi2=0.0000
Pseudo R2= 0.1663
Log likelihood= -501.042

11. Result: Table 5. Propensity score matching of the Impact of Financial Inclusion on Productivity among
Maize farmers
Variable Sample Treated Controls Difference S.E. Tstat
Common
radius
Unmatched 0.0525 -0.0207 0.0732 0.0653 1.12
ATT 0.0533 0.0454 0.0079 0.0852 0.09
ATU -0.0183 0.1155 0.1339 . .
ATE 0.0994 . .
Kernel
matching
Unmatched 0.0525 -0.0207 0.0732 0.0653 1.12
ATT 0.0529 0.0149 0.0380 0.0832 0.46
ATU -0.0191 0.1578 0.1770 . .
ATE 0.1374 . .
Nearest
Neighbour
Unmatched 3.3691 2.4533 0.9158 0.8174 1.12
ATT 3.3691 3.3179 0.0512 1.1962 0.04
ATU 2.4533 2.7409 0.2876 . .
ATE 0.2207 . .

12. Figure 1. A Common Support Graph For Propensity Score Matching Of The Impact Of Financial Inclusion On Productivity Among
Maize Farmers.
0 .2 .4 .6 .8
Propensity Score
Untreated Treated

13. Conclusion & Recommendations
 Conclusions
 The level of financial inclusion among maize farmers was low
 The productivity level among maize farmers was low
 Tertiary education and being a male significantly influenced financial inclusion
 Financial inclusion has a positive impact on productivity among maize farmers in Nigeria
 Recommendations
 Provision of training and education will help stimulate the knowledge of the maize farmers. This
would facilitate the farmer to have a bank account
 Creation of special rural banks would also encourage more financial inclusion

14. THANK YOU