Financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in West African economic and Monetary Union

Akpa, Armand Fréjuis; Osabohien, Romanus; Ashraf, Junaid; Al‐Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh

doi:10.1108/afr-06-2022-0076

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(110 reference statements)

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“…The authors argue that the primary channels through which financial inclusion affects children's educational outcomes include parents' ability to spend on extra classes and on books and other school-related supplies. Moreover, Akpa et al (2023) analyze the role of financial inclusion in the agricultural sector. The authors conclude that financial inclusion plays a crucial role in mitigating postharvest losses by providing credit services for farmers that enable them to acquire soil technology such as certified crops (high-quality seeds) and pesticides, among others, necessary to mitigate postharvest losses.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Does financial inclusion empower women in Africa?

Maruta,

Edjigu,

Kassa

2023

Economic Notes

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This paper examines the effect of financial inclusion on women's empowerment. We contribute to the growing interest in financial inclusion effectiveness literature by conducting an empirical analysis of 42 African countries to examine the role of financial inclusion in empowering women. We also examine and compare the effectiveness of the three dimensions of financial inclusion viz. usage, access, and quality, and the first most influential indicators, based on their PCA score, of these dimensions. Our findings suggest that financial inclusion has a significantly positive effect on women's empowerment‐measured by females' human development index. Examining the relative importance of financial inclusion dimensions, we find access to financial services has a higher effect on women's empowerment. These results are robust to alternative measures of women's empowerment and financial inclusion, and alternative estimation procedures. We also find that the effect of financial inclusion on women's empowerment is higher in low and lower‐middle‐income countries compared with upper‐middle‐income countries in the region. This study provides evidence of one of the channels through which financial inclusion contributes to reducing gender inequality, and thereby enhancing economic development.

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Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Does financial inclusion empower women in Africa?

Maruta,

Edjigu,

Kassa

2023

Economic Notes

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“…The technique of food processing/value addition eventually increases farmers’ revenue by extending the shelf-life of the produce and market prospects (Bhatnagar et al , 2019; Anand and Barua, 2022; Priyadarshi et al , 2022a, 2022b; Ganeshkumar et al , 2023). The above types of losses have resulted in revenue losses in PYSC, leading to lesser returns on investment (Bhatnagar et al , 2019; Minten et al , 2021; Anand and Barua, 2022; Akpa et al , 2023; Ganeshkumar et al , 2023). Providing cost subsidies during yield or adopting a price realisation strategy for the produce instead of minimum support price (MSP) has been in discussion (Chintapalli and Tang, 2022; Naik and Mohan, 2023).…”

Section: Literature Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The farmers are left with minimal produce to make business due to low productivity (Gunasekera et al , 2017). Such uncertain times lead the farmers towards mental trauma and debts (Blodgett and Feld, 2023; Akpa et al , 2023). The government’s intervention is key to farmers’ motivation in such crucial times (Akpa et al , 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such uncertain times lead the farmers towards mental trauma and debts (Blodgett and Feld, 2023; Akpa et al , 2023). The government’s intervention is key to farmers’ motivation in such crucial times (Akpa et al , 2023). It is also reported that there is a demand and supply imbalance in local, national and international markets (Balaji and Arshinder, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was concluded that factors such as supply chain coordination, government support, cold chain infrastructure, traceability and transparency with the use of technology would only tend to reduce the existing levels of losses (The Tribune, 2023). The existing spoilage levels, quantity losses and quality losses for various fresh products alarm to regularise of various practices such as packaging, handling, awareness about certified organic produces, improved warehousing, cold chains, optimised and maintained transportation routes and adaption of value-addition practices at countryside for leafy greens, tomatoes and onions (Gunasekera et al , 2017; Priyadarshi and Routroy, 2018; Bhatnagar et al , 2019; Akpa et al , 2023). The Government of India also motivates processing vegetables and fruits into dried form for later use and reducing spoilage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observation of post-yield supply chain impediments for spoilage mitigation and revenue generation opportunities at countryside

Priyadarshi

2023

JGOSS

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Purpose The countryside population has always been depended on the revenues earned from agricultural yields. These yields often suffer losses in the absence of coordination guidelines in the post-yield supply chains (PYSC). This study aims to identify, address and mitigate the post-yield supply chain impediments (PYSCIs) that lead to enormous amounts of waste and revenue losses. These are the parameters that require government and stakeholders’ attention for alleviation from losses. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed to categorise the identified PYSCIs as “standard measures”. The motive for SEM results is to attract the stakeholders’ attention toward PYSCIs for business sustainability. The PYSCIs were clustered into three “standard measures” (i.e. strategic, tactical and operational measures) for revenue generation and reduced fresh produce spoilage in the countryside. Findings The SEM results suggest that the focus should be on revising minimum support prices and government support for initiatives, subsidy schemes and incentives at the strategic level. Tactical initiatives focus on linking markets including exports, research and development, attitude towards certification, value addition process adoption and reduced number of stages in the supply chain. The operational initiatives are attitudes towards agriculture and entrepreneurship, transportation infrastructure, supply chain coordination, information visibility, scientific design for packaging and handling and storage space availability for both long and short term at the village level. Research limitations/implications This study was performed in India; thus, the research outcomes of this study are restricted to adaption into the developing sub-continents with sub-tropical climates. Practical implications The existing level of losses in the PYSC demands introspection and policy changes at the farm level. In the era of cold chains, the Internet of Things, and other advanced mechanisms, a few elementary parameters must be worked upon to reduce PYSC losses. These parameters were identified as impediments to PYSC, requiring public, government and stakeholders’ attention. There is an urgent need for guidelines to be issued to mitigate losses. SEM was performed to attract the public, government and stakeholders’ attention toward impediments to fresh produce spoilage, opportunity generation and business sustainability. Originality/value This study uses a novel SEM approach where the PYSCIs were identified and empirically validated in an Indian context. The SEM approach will help in effective decision-making. Similar studies to manage the PYSCIs to reduce fresh produce spoilage with standard measures have not been reported in the literature.

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