Financial Service usage and Rice Commercialization of Smallholders Farmer in Kilombero District: The Role of Institutional Law and Regulation

Abstract

This survey study was conducted in Tanzania to assess the effect of financial service usage on the agriculture commercialization of smallholder rice growers in Kilombero District. Primary data were collected using survey questionnaires from 358 smallholder farmers. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis and Hayes PROCESS macro with the help of IBM SPSS software. The results obtained suggest that financial services usage had a positive effect on rice commercialization. The results also confirm that institutional law and regulation had a negative significant moderating effect on the relationship between financial service usage and agriculture commercialization. This implies that high laws and regulations in accessing and using financial services hinder smallholder farmers’ usage of financial services. The study recommends that to improve the level of agriculture commercialization, policymakers and the Government are required to set policies which reduce the cost of accessing and using financial services and improve the efficiency of rules and regulations governing financial services usage.