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Agriculture and Food Sciences Research 
Vol. 7, No. 1, 16-21, 2020 

ISSN(E) 2411-6653/ ISSN(P) 2518-0193 
DOI: 10.20448/journal.512.2020.71.16.21 

© 2020 by the authors; licensee Asian Online Journal Publishing Group 

    
 

 
 
 
Effect of Credit on Cassava Productivity in Kintampo South District Using Cobb-
Douglas Production Function Model 

 
Maxwell Amedi1     
Moses Dumayiri2 
Mohammed Abdul-Rashid Suhuyini3 

  
( Corresponding Author)  

1 Food Security & Resilience Technical Program Manager, World Vision International, Ghana. 

 
2Lecturer, Department of Banking and Finance, School of Business and Law, University of Development Studies, 
Ghana. 
3PhD Candidate, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Development Studies, Ghana. 

 
Abstract 

The study estimated the effect of credit on cassava productivity in Kintampo South District using 
Cobb-Douglas Production function model. Primary data was collected from 60 small- scaled 
cassava farmers while secondary data was gathered from literature. Snowball sampling technique 
was used to obtain the sample size of 60 small-scaled cassava farmers. Data obtained were 
analyzed using descriptive statistics and Cobb-Douglas Production function model. Results from 
the study showed that majority of the farmer’s accessed credit from VSLA groups. The study 
found that, credit has significant effect on cassava output level with an elasticity of 1.83 implying 
that a percentage increase in credit supply will lead to 1.83 % increase in cassava output. The 
study concludes that, the output of cassava could be increased considerably by obtaining credit. 
The study recommends the Ministry of Agriculture to use VSLA groups as vehicle of 
administering loans/credit to small-scaled farmers to increase productivity of farmers. Secondly, 
small-scaled farmers in Kintampo South District should be part of VSLA and other co-operate 
groups to acquire credit which will enable them  purchase necessary input required for cassava 
farming activities.   

 
Keywords: Cassava, Productivity, Credit, Cobb-Douglas production function model, Kintampo South District. 

 
Citation | Maxwell Amedi; Moses Dumayiri; Mohammed Abdul-
Rashid Suhuyini (2020). Effect of Credit on Cassava Productivity in 
Kintampo South District Using Cobb-Douglas Production Function 
Model. Agriculture and Food Sciences Research, 7(1): 16-21. 
History:  
Received: 11 November 2019 
Revised: 16 December 2019 
Accepted: 20 January 2020 
Published: 19 February 2020 
Licensed: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons 

Attribution 3.0 License  
Publisher:  Asian Online Journal Publishing Group 
 

Acknowledgement: All authors contributed to the conception and design of 
the study. 
Funding: This study received no specific financial support. 
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of 
interests. 
Transparency: The authors confirm that the manuscript is an honest, 
accurate, and transparent account of the study was reported; that no vital 
features of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the 
study as planned have been explained. 
Ethical: This study follows all ethical practices during writing.   

 

 

Contents 
1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 
2. Problem Statement .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17 
3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 
4. Result and Discussions ................................................................................................................................................................... 18 
5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 
6. Recommendation.............................................................................................................................................................................. 20 
References .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 
 

 
 

 
 
 

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Contribution of this paper to the literature 
This study contributes to existing literature by estimating the effect of credit on cassava 
productivity in Kintampo South District using Cobb-Douglas Production function model. 

 
1. Introduction 

Cassava remains to be one of the most important crops grown in Ghana because of its adaptability to different 
ecological zones and its economic values [1]. Cassava farming creates employment for about 20% percent of the 
population in Ghana in different forms of livelihood activities and serves as a major source of income for 
households. In spite of the relevance to the economy, most farmers’ find it difficult to access credit [2] to go into 
its production to ensure food security [3]. This is because generally agriculture cash flows are seasonal in nature 
(i.e. cash inflows and outflows seldom occur at the same time; therefore farmers are left with no option than getting 
external source of funding to meet their expenditures which they do not even get at all or record low yield [4]. 
Agricultural credit therefore plays short-circuiting role in individual savings process to increase investment in 
agriculture [5]. In a research done by Jan and Khan [4] and Sial, et al. [6] it came out clear that  agricultural 
credit plays crucial role in procuring agricultural equipment’s and machineries, purchase of raw materials, payment 
of wages, acquisition of farm inputs (stem, weedicide, pesticides, herbicides) to increase agricultural productivity. 

In view of this, Government’s strategy over the years to increase agriculture productivity and economic 
growth has been through agricultural programmes supported by the Government or donors [7]. Such 
programmes have overall goal of raising farmer-household income and reducing poverty through private sector-led 
and agribusiness development. Recent research by ISSER [8] revealed that the volume of credit given by bank in 
in the Ghana is on decline whiles the non-agricultural sector is higher. From literature, the few studies that exist 
include; factors that influence demand of formal savings and lending facilities in Ghana by Aryeetey and Gockel 
[9] examination of credit supply from different sectors of the economy, agricultural credit and production 
response. In Kintampo South District limited or no empirical studies exist on the effect of credit on cassava 
productivity. The study therefore seeks to ascertain the effect of credit on cassava productivity. This paper, 
therefore intends to fill the knowledge gap. The relevance of this study cannot be over emphasized. It is hoped that 
the facts and findings of the study will be relevant to the district assembly, policy makers and other government 
and non-governmental organizations. The study will help provide a better understanding of whether credit has any 
impact on cassava productivity. Findings in the district will help in the design of policies that will alleviate poverty, 
reduce vulnerability, and improve household wellbeing. The study will also be very useful to the intellectual 
community as it adds to the available literature on the above subject matter. 
 

2. Problem Statement 
Cassava producers in the Kintampo South District are mostly small-scaled farmers. Most of these farmers 

cultivate land sizes not more than five acres. Farmers, therefore, can barely have surplus on their generated income 
and thus, save little or none for investment in their farm operations. Low savings among small- scaled farmers do 
not encourage major investment in agriculture in terms of mechanization and therefore contribute little output. 
Percentage credit provided by the Deposit Money Banks (DMB) to Cassava producers in the Kintampo South 
District has been on a persistent decline compared to the volume of credit to the non-agricultural sectors. District 
Farmers who are fortunate to receive credit from these commercial banks receive low amount which scarcely have 
the propensity to increase production. The tedious and bureaucratic procedures encountered by the farmers when 
accessing such credits from financial institutions in the Kintampo South District discourages farmers from taking 
credit. In spite of government efforts to facilitate credit deepening and credit widening among farmers through 
financial institutions, most farmers are restricted to accessing credit or shun completely from taking credit from 
formal financial institutions. They, therefore, rely primarily on informal credit sources that supply low amount.  
These concerns raise the following research questions; 
1. What proportions of small -scaled cassava farmers in Kintampo South District have access to credit from 
financial institutions?  
2. Does credit for small scale-scale cassava farmers in Kintampo South District have any significant effect on their 
productivity?  
 

2.1. Objectives of the Study 
The objective of the study is to assess the effect of credit on cassava productivity in Kintampo South District of the 
Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana 
 

2.2. Specific Objectives of the Study 
1. To estimate the proportion of small scale cassava farmers in Kintampo South District those have access to 

credit from financial institutions. 
2. To estimate the effect of credit on cassava productivity in the Kintampo South District. 

 
3. Methodology 
3.1. Theoretical Framework 

The Cobb-Douglas production function of the form Y =ADαHβ eƐ was also used to access the effect of credit 

on cassava output. This equation is widely used to represent the relationship of an output to inputs. The α, and β, 

are the output elasticity of the inputs and the Ɛ is the error term. 
The effect of Credit on cassava Output. 
The Cobb-Douglas production function is employed to estimate the effect of credit on the production output by 

the small-scale cassava farmers in Kintampo South District. The Cobb-Douglas production function is of the form: 
 
 



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Y = ADαHβLβFā 
 

The production function is linearized to obtain: 
 

InY = InA + αInD + βInH + ᵞInL + ãInF + Ý ………………………………….(Eqn -1) 
 
Where; 
Y denotes total production of cassava (Kg/acre). 
D denotes credit (amount in GHS). 
H denotes land (acres). 
L denotes labour input (GHS). 
F denotes Fertilizer inputs (Kg). 
A denotes total factor productivity.  
Ý denotes error term which accounts for the random disturbances. 

α, β, ᵧ, and ã are the parameters to be estimated.  

The parameters α, β, ᵧ, and ã are the output elasticities of credit, land, labour and fertilizer respectively. These 
values are constants determined by available technology. Output elasticity measures the responsiveness of output 

to a change in levels of credit, land, labour or fertilizer used in production, ceteris paribus. α, β, ᵧ, and ã > 0, 
implying that, each of credit, land, labour, and fertilizer has positive correlation with output. The efficiency or the 
total productivity factor of the available technology will be shown by the constant intercept, A.  
 

3.2. Methods of Analyses 
Objective 1 

In order to estimate the proportion of small scale cassava farmers in Kintampo South District that have access 
to credit from formal financial institutions, descriptive statistics was used to describe the proportion of farmers in 
the study area that are currently using credit from formal financial institutions. Percentages were mainly used to 
describe results and then presented in tabular form. 
 

Objective 2 
In order to assess the effect of credit on cassava productivity in the Kintampo South District Cobb-Douglas 

Production Function Model was used. 
 

3.3. Sample Size and Sampling Technique  
The Snowball sampling technique was used to obtain the sample size of 60 small- scaled cassava farmers. One 

of the small- scaled cassava farmers who was available and ready to speak to was first contacted. After answering 
my questions, he directed me to the next farmer who then also directed me to another farmer after responding to 
my questions till I had a total of 60 small-scale cassava farmers. Primary data was collected from the cassava 
farmers by administering structured questionnaires. 
 

3.4. Method of Data Collection  
Interviews using structured questionnaire were the main techniques used in the gathering the requisite data. 

Open and close-ended questions were used. Some of the information collected from farmers includes age, sex, 
marital status, level of education, household size and farming experience e.t.c. The open- ended questions were to 
bring out understanding of the situation on the ground.  
 

3.5. Study Area  
The study was conducted in Kintampo South District of Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.  Kintampo South 

District is a political and administrative entity which shares boundaries with Kintampo North Municipality to the 
north, to the south by Nkoranza and Techiman, to the east by Atebubu and Pru Districts and to the West by 
Wenchi Municpal. It lies  within longitude 10º 20º West and 20º 10º East and latitude 80º 15º north and 70º 45º 
South. The District which is one of the 27 in Brong Ahafo has Jema as its capital with an estimated population of 
6300 [10].  

The District is mainly inhabited by the Mo and Bono together with a multiplicity of other ethnic groups such 
as the Dagaabas, Dagombas, frafra, Ashantis, Lobi and Wala in the district. The District has 122 communities 
many of which are hard to reach especially in the wet or rainy season. The district has three (3) major weekly 
markets located at Jema (Tuesday), Apesika (Thursday) and Anyima (Monday). These markets are patronised 
mainly by farmers and middlemen from Kintampo, Techiman, Tamale, Wenchi and other areas. Products sold at 
these markets are mainly food crops and household items. 
 

4. Result and Discussions 
4.1. Sex Distribution of Respondents 

The Sex distribution of the respondents as indicated in Figure 1 revealed that, 67% of the farmers are males 
and 33% are females indicating that cassava farming in Kintampo South district is dominated by men. This agrees 
with the findings of Olaleye [11] that small scale farming are being carried out mostly  by men while females 
involve in light farm operation such as weeding, processing and harvesting and marketing of cassava. 
 



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Figure-1. Sex distribution of respondents. 

                                   Source: Field survey, 2018. 

 

4.2. Marital Status and Household Size of Respondents 
The result from Table 1 shows that 58% of respondents are married and 20% are single whilst 22 % are 

widowed. About 23% of small scaled cassava farmers have household sizes between 0 and 5 whilst 13% of them 
have household size above 10 persons per family with majority of the farmers’ having household size between 5 and 
10 representing 64%. This is consistent with Adebayo and Adeola [12] whose study also reveals that majority of 
the respondents have large family sizes which fall within the range of 6-10 persons per family. 
 

Table-1. Households marital status. 

Marital Status Frequency Percentage 

Married 35 58.3 
Single 12 20.0 

Windowed 13 21.7 
Total 60 100.0 

         Source: Field survey, 2018. 

 
                     Table-2. Household sizes of cassava farmers. 

Household Size Frequency Percentage 

1-5 14 23.3 
6-10 38 63.3 
≥10 8 13.3 
total 60 100.0 

                                Source: Field survey, 2018. 
 

Table-3. Age distribution of respondents. 

Age Frequency Percentage 

18-30 13 21.7 
31-40 18 30.0 
41-50 23 38.3 
≥50 6 10.0 
total 60 100.0 

                                  Source: Field survey, 2018. 

 
Most of the small-scaled farmers are between the ages of 41-50 representing 38.3% as indicated in Table 3. The 

farmers above 50 years represent 10% of small-scaled cassava farmers sampled. Also 21.7% of the farmers are 
between 16-30 years whilst 30% are between 31-40 years. The economically active labour force engaged in small-
scaled cassava farming at Kintampo South District is in the range of 31-50 representing 68.3% which is appro. 68%. 
This agrees with finding from MoFA [13] that 67% of similar age are engaged in small scaled cassava farming. 

 
Table-4. Educational level of respondents. 

Level Frequency Percentage 

None 21 35 
Primary 18 30 
JHS/MSLC 15 25 
SHS/TECH/VOC 6 10 
total 60 100 

Source: Field survey, 2018. 

 
The result from Table 4 shows that 35% of the farmers engaged in small- scaled cassava farming do not have 

any formal education. About 30% had primary education whiles 25% had junior high school and middle school 
certificate examination. It was only 10% that had Senior secondary school education. 
 



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Figure-2. Proportion of small scale cassava farmers’ who access credit from formal financial institutions. 

                                Source: Field survey, 2018. 

 
From Figure 2, the main source of funding for small-scaled cassava farmers in Kintampo South District is 

through Village savings and Loans Associations (VSLA). The next available source of credit is from their personal 
savings. About 18% of farmers carry out their cassava farming activities using their own resources. About 5% of 
the respondents secure their credit from friends. The high percentage of farmers taking credit from the VSLA was 
evident from the field because most of them were members of VSLA groups and their participation was great. 
Beyond this, the high figure recorded stems from the fact that, is quite easier to borrow from the group and the 
interest on the loans will be shared back among members during share out session by close of the year. 
 

4.3. Effect of Credit on Cassava Output 
The Cobb-Douglas production function model was used to access the effect of credit on the output of cassava 

produced by the small-scaled cassava farmers. The estimated R-sqaure means that jointly, credit, labour; land 
fertilizer explained 70% of the total variation in the output of cassava produced. The estimated F- value also 
suggested that the joint effect of the explanatory variables included in the model is significant at 1% percent.  
 

4.4. Results of the Linear Cobb- Douglass Production Function 
 

Table-5. Results of effect of credit on cassava output. 

Dependent variable: Log (Output) 
Method Least Square 
Sample (adjusted):660 
Included observation: 12 after adjustment 

Variables Coefficient Robust Std. Err T P>|t| 

Log (credit) 1.830853 .0708182 2.58 0.0362** 
Log (Fert) 0.250387 .721253 0.35 0.490 
Log (Land) 0.341130 .725430 0.47 0.096 

Log (Labour) 0.074659 .598665 0.125 0.722 
C -4.518687 3.900769 -1.158 0.083 

Goodness of fit  
 Number of obs   =      60                   Pseudo R2       =     0.807042    
Adjusted R-Square = 0.696781  
 F (10,    110) =       2.83                      Prob. > F        =     0.012070 

                       Note: ***, **and * are significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively. 
 
The output elasticity of credit was 1.83 implying that a percentage increase in credit supply will result in 1.83 

percentage increase in cassava output. Those of fertilizer, land and labour were 0.25, 0.34 and 0.07 respectively. 
The magnitude of output elasticity of credit shows that under the circumstances and the existing system of cassava 
farming at Kintampo South District, credit supply will have a significant influence on output. 

That is, the production of cassava is considerably responsive to credit. This implies that the output of cassava 
could be increased considerably by obtaining credit without necessarily increasing the land size, fertilizer 
application and hiring more labour since they were not statistically different from zero. The credit supply will 
enable the farmers to acquire the necessary inputs such as fertilizer, weedicides, improved planting materials and 
modern implements required for production expansion. 
 

5. Conclusion 
It is worth concluding from the study that; 

• Majority of the small scale cassava farmers need credit to enhance their productive farming activities. 

• The output of cassava is responsive to credit and the output could be increased significantly by obtaining 
credit without increasing land size, fertilizer and labour. 

 

6. Recommendation 
• Based on the findings from the study, the following recommendations are therefore suggested: 

• The government through Ministry of Agriculture should use VSLA groups as vehicle of administering 
loans/credit to small scaled farmers to achieve high recovery rate and increase productivity of farmers. 



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• The small scaled farmers in Kintampo South District should be encouraged to be part of VSLA and other co-
operate groups to enable them acquire credit which will enable them  purchase the necessary input required to 
for cassava farming activities. 

 

References  
[1] MoFA, "Ministry of food and agriculture, statistics, research and information directorate (SRID), Agriculture in Ghana Facts and 

Figures, Accra." Retrieved from: http://agricinghana.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/agriculture-in-ghana-facts-and-figures-
2014.pdf, 2014. 

[2] Bank of Ghana (BoG), "Quarter 1 report." Retrieved from: https://www.bog.gov.gh. [Accessed May 28, 2017], 2017. 
[3] O. W. Olowa and O. A. Olowa, "Issues, problems and policies in agricultural credit: A review of agricultural credit in Nigeria," 

Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology, vol. 8, pp. 87-108, 2011. 
[4] I. Jan and H. Khan, "Factors responsible for rural household participation in institutional credit programs in Pakistan," African 

Journal of Business Management, vol. 6, pp. 1186-1190, 2012. 
[5] M. Amedi, "Determinants of loan repayment performance among rice farmers in Hohoe Municipality," Unpublished Mphil. Thesis, 

Submitted to School of graduate Studies of University of Ghana, Legon, 2012. 
[6] M. H. Sial, M. S. Awan, and M. Waqas, "Role of institutional credit on agricultural production: A time series analysis of Pakistan," 

International Journal of Economics and Finance, vol. 3, 2011. 
[7] MoFA, "Ministry of food and agriculture, statistics, research and information directorate (SRID), Agriculture in Ghana Facts and 

Figures, Accra." Retrieved from: http://agricinghana.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/agriculture-in-ghana-facts-and-figures-
2016.pdf, 2014. 

[8] ISSER, "Institute of statistical, social and economic research (ISSER), Agricultural sector development: Policies and options, 
working paper 1,  Accra, Ghana," pp. 50-61, 2003. 

[9] E. Aryeetey and Gockel, "Mobilising domestic resources for capital formation in Ghana: The role of informal financial sector. 
AERC Research Paper No.3," 1991. 

[10] Ghana Statistical Service (G.S.S), "Population & housing census (PHC) summary report of final   results. Accra Ghana." Retrieved 
from: https:/www.statsghana.gov.gh/[various, 2011. 

[11] R. Olaleye, "Effectiveness of development intervention for economic empowerment on rural women in Ondo Nigeria," An 
Unpublished Ph. D Thesis Submitted to the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ibadan, 
Ibadan, 2000. 

[12] O. O. Adebayo and R. G. Adeola, "Sources and uses of agricultural credit by small-scale farmers in surulere local government area 
of Oyo State," Anthropologist, vol. 10, pp. 313-314, 2008.Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09720073.2008.11891069. 

[13] MoFA, "Ministry of food and agriculture, statistics, research and information directorate (SRID), Agriculture in Ghana Facts and 
Figures, Accra." Retrieved from: http://agricinghana.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/agriculture-in-ghana-facts-and-figures-
2016.pdf, 2016. 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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