Effect of Credit Access, Utilization, and Repayment Patterns on Rural Women Agro-Entrepreneurship Performance in Katsina State, Nigeria

This study examined credit access, utilization, repayment and their effect on rural women agro-entrepreneurship performance in Katsina State. A descriptive survey design was employed using multistage sampling procedure to select 240 rural women agro-entrepreneurs across three senatorial districts: Katsina Central (KC), Katsina North (KN), and Katsina South (KS). Data on respondents’ demographic characteristics, involvement, credit access, utilization, repayment, performance and challenges were collected using a structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Results revealed that KS had older population (mean age = 45.08) compared to KC (36.57) and KN (36.99) years. Religious homogeneity (Islam) prevailed, while Quranic education (69.6%) dominated. Mean experience was 11 years, with KN (13.08) having the highest mean age. Household sizes were large, averaging overall (7.32) people, with KN (9.64) recording the largest. Involvement showed that small ruminant rearing emerged as primary activity (weighted mean 1.363), followed by poultry (1.313) and staple crop production (1.013). KC showed the highest involvement across most activities, while KN and KS lagged. Cash crops production varied, with KC having higher engagement (1.500) compared to KN (0.250) and KS (0.139). Traditional processing like oil extraction and fruit juice showed moderate participation across districts. Majority never accessed credit from commercial banks (97.5%) and microfinance institution (98.8%). Family (31.7%) and friends (31.2%) occasionally dominated credit sources. District-level results showed KC with the most balanced access, while KN and KS demonstrated family-based access. Credit utilization exposed diversion into non-business purposes (75%). Fertilizers and seeds (79.6%), intended agro-enterprise purposes (88.8%), and land expansion (90.8%) were poorly utilized. Overall (68.8%) had low credit utilization. Primary challenges included poor market conditions (weighted mean = 1.867), lack of business registration/formalization (1.863), limited investment information (1.842), and inadequate business management skills (1.842). Gender and cultural barriers varied, with KC facing more severe religious/cultural restrictions. Repayment behaviour revealed 53.3% having poor repayment. Moral obligation (3.925) towards loan repayment scored highest. KC (60.4%) recorded the best repayment, while KS (29.2%) lagged. ANOVA confirmed significant differences across districts in all key variables (p < 0.001). Multiple regression identified credit access (β = 2.25, p < 0.001) followed by credit utilization (β = 1.16, p < 0.001) and repayment behaviour (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) as performance predictors. Challenges posed negative effects on performance (β = -0.19, p < 0.001). The study concludes that while women agro-entrepreneurship potential existed across the districts, credit access, utilization, repayment and performance disparities required targeted interventions.