Smallholder farmers in Zambia face many challenges in accessing financial services including limited access to financial markets. Despite the numerous reforms undertaken by the Government and the donor community, including financial sector reforms, many rural farmers have remained in poverty with limited capacity to access safety nets like loans to militate against hunger and disease. This paper set out to find out factors that affect smallholders' decision to access rural finance and the intensity of their participation in the financial markets.A household survey was conducted in five provinces from which thirteen districts were purposively selected. Employing both purposive and random sampling techniques, a pre-tested questionnaire was administered on 1,326 households. Data was analysed using a double huddle model. Results indicated that education level of household head, size of household and number of daily meals served significantly influenced decision to access finance while loan payback period, having a phone and personal savings influenced the intensity of participation in the rural financial market.
This study investigates the determinants of growth and competitiveness of Zambia's flower exports to three main export destinations-the Netherlands, the UK and Germany-using annual time series data from 1990 to 2010. Acknowledging that time series data are often nonstationary, leading to misleading economic analyses, the study employs cointegration and error correction models to establish factors of conditions growth and competitiveness of Zambia's flower exports. The results show that supply and competitiveness of flower exports are positively influenced by domestic flower production, real GDP and population of importing countries, relative depreciation of domestic currency and world export prices. In contrast, exports from competing countries and real interest rates were found to negatively influence flower exports. This seems to suggest that monetary policies and exchange rate regimes that promote trade are required for enhancing and fostering an environment favorable for flower production and exporting. In addition, the replacement of Zambia's flower exports by those from other countries dictates that there must be a quality improvement so the country's exports can compete favorably with those from other countries.
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