IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i18p10160-d633158.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Smallholders’ Challenges: Realizing Peri-Urban Opportunities in Bengaluru

Author

Listed:
  • Meenakshi Rajeev

    (Centre for Economic Studies and Policy, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru 560072, India)

  • Christoph Scherrer

    (International Center for Development and Decent Work, Universität Kassel, 34109 Kassel, Germany)

Abstract

Urban expansion creates potential for increased incomes among previously rural smallholders from sources other than traditional agriculture. Harnessing this potential, however, requires investments into agricultural upgrading or non-farm activities. The article addresses the question concerning to what extent these investments are realised in the peri-urban space of Bengaluru. Its answers are based on a review of the literature and extensive field surveys in two differentially developed districts assessing the smallholders’ economic situation in 2019 and as a recall in 2009. Our findings are that only a few smallholders were able to realise the peri-urban opportunities. Household income increased in real terms only by a little, especially from farming. Instead of a traditional farm to non-farm production linkage, surpluses from the non-farm sector were seen to meet the working capital needs of the farm sector. While physical access to formal financial institutions has significantly improved, formal borrowing is dominated by small-sized loans from registered self-help groups or traditional priority sector loans. Only a few households took up non-farm activities as many others failed to obtain sufficient credit and lacked knowledge about remunerative non-farm projects. Overall, rising outlays for education and health services leave little resources for any productive investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Meenakshi Rajeev & Christoph Scherrer, 2021. "Smallholders’ Challenges: Realizing Peri-Urban Opportunities in Bengaluru," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10160-:d:633158
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10160/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10160/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Goldman, 2011. "Speculative Urbanism and the Making of the Next World City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 555-581, May.
    2. Rizwan Mushtaq & Catherine Bruneau, 2019. "Microfinance, financial inclusion and ICT: Implications for poverty and inequality," Post-Print hal-03452826, HAL.
    3. Cihak, Martin & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Feyen, Erik & Levine, Ross, 2012. "Benchmarking financial systems around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6175, The World Bank.
    4. Mandira Sarma, 2008. "Index of Financial Inclusion," Working Papers id:1575, eSocialSciences.
    5. Mandira Sarma, "undated". "Index of Financial Inclusion," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 215, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    6. Meenakshi Rajeev & B. P. Vani, 2017. "Financial Access of the Urban Poor in India," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, number 978-81-322-3712-9, October.
    7. Nagarajan, Geetha & Meyer, Richard L., 2005. "Rural Finance: Recent Advances and Emerging Lessons, Debates, and Opportunities," Working Papers 28317, Ohio State University, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics.
    8. Erica Field & Rohini Pande & John Papp & Natalia Rigol, 2013. "Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2196-2226, October.
    9. Manojit Bhattacharjee & Meenakshi Rajeev, 2010. "Interest rate formation in informal credit markets in India: does level of development matter?," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 12610, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    10. Rodrik, Dani, 2008. "The New Development Economics: We Shall Experiment, but How Shall We Learn?," Working Paper Series rwp08-055, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    11. Manojit Bhattacharjee & Meenakshi Rajeev, 2013. "Modeling Loan Repayment Behavior in Developing Countries," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 35(2), pages 270-295.
    12. Seema Purushothaman & Sheetal Patil, 2019. "Agrarian Change and Urbanization in Southern India," India Studies in Business and Economics, Springer, number 978-981-10-8336-5, September.
    13. Joachim Vandercasteelen & Bart Minten & Seneshaw Tamru, 2021. "Urban proximity, access to value chains, and dairy productivity in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(4), pages 665-678, July.
    14. Mushtaq, Rizwan & Bruneau, Catherine, 2019. "Microfinance, financial inclusion and ICT: Implications for poverty and inequality," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    15. Elumalai Kannan & Guru Balamurugan & Sudha Narayanan, 2021. "Spatial economic analysis of agricultural land use changes: a case of peri-urban Bangalore, India," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 34-50, January.
    16. Rizwan Mushtaq & Catherine Bruneau, 2019. "Microfinance, financial inclusion and ICT: Implications for poverty and inequality," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-03452826, HAL.
    17. Rao, Elizaphan J. O. & Omondi, Immaculate & Karimov, Aziz A. & Baltenweck, Isavelle, 2016. "Dairy farm households, processor linkages and household income: the case of dairy hub linkages in East Africa," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(4), October.
    18. Mandira Sarma, 2008. "Index of Financial Inclusion," Finance Working Papers 22259, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    19. Demirguc-Kunt,Asli & Klapper,Leora & Singer,Dorothe, 2017. "Financial inclusion and inclusive growth : a review of recent empirical evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8040, The World Bank.
    20. Wegmann, Johannes & Mußhoff, Oliver, 2019. "Groundwater management institutions in the face of rapid urbanization – Results of a framed field experiment in Bengaluru, India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eva Schlecht & Matthias Gaßmann & Uwe Altrock & Andreas Thiel, 2023. "Special Issue “Rural–Urban Transformation of Asian Megacities from a Social-Ecological Systems Perspective”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-5, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guillermo Boitano & Deybi Franco Abanto, 2020. "Challenges of financial inclusion policies in Peru," Revista Finanzas y Politica Economica, Universidad Católica de Colombia, vol. 12(1), pages 89-117, June.
    2. Hewa Wellalage, Nirosha & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Manita, Riadh & Locke, Stuart M., 2021. "Information communication technology and financial inclusion of innovative entrepreneurs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Murshed, Muntasir & Ahmed, Rizwan & Al-Tal, Raad Mahmoud & Kumpamool, Chamaiporn & Vetchagool, Witchulada & Avarado, Rafael, 2023. "Determinants of financial inclusion in South Asia: The moderating and mediating roles of internal conflict settlement," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Kazeem B. Ajide & Olorunfemi Y. Alimi & Simplice A. Asongu & Ibrahim D. Raheem, 2022. "The role of institutional infrastructures in financial inclusion‐growth relations: Evidence from SSA," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 175-191, January.
    5. David Martínez Turégano & Alicia García Herrero, 2018. "Financial Inclusion, Rather Than Size, Is The Key To Tackling Income Inequality," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(01), pages 167-184, March.
    6. Giorgio Nuzzo & Stefano Piermattei, 2019. "Measuring financial inclusion in the main euro area countries: the role of electronic cards," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 504, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Amponsah, Mary & Agbola, Frank W. & Mahmood, Amir, 2021. "The impact of informality on inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does financial inclusion matter?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1259-1286.
    8. Tran Huong Thi Thanh & Le Ha Thi Thu, 2021. "The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Poverty Reduction," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 95-119, April.
    9. Zhao, Congyu & Jia, Rongwen & Dong, Kangyin, 2023. "Does financial inclusion achieve the dual dividends of narrowing carbon inequality within cities and between cities? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    10. Eduardo Polloni-Silva & Naijela da Costa & Herick Fernando Moralles & Mario Sacomano Neto, 2021. "Does Financial Inclusion Diminish Poverty and Inequality? A Panel Data Analysis for Latin American Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 889-925, December.
    11. Kouladoum, Jean-Claude & Wirajing, Muhamadu Awal Kindzeka & Nchofoung, Tii N., 2022. "Digital technologies and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9).
    12. US Thathsarani & Jianguo Wei & GRSRC Samaraweera, 2021. "Financial Inclusion’s Role in Economic Growth and Human Capital in South Asia: An Econometric Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    13. Zhaobin Fan & Ruohan Zhang, 2017. "Financial Inclusion, Entry Barriers, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Giorgio Nuzzo & Stefano Piermattei, 2020. "Discussing Measures of Financial Inclusion for the Main Euro Area Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 765-786, April.
    15. Mohamed Noureldin Sayed & Amir Shusha, 2019. "Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Egypt," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(12), pages 1383-1404, December.
    16. Saibal Ghosh, 2020. "Financial Inclusion in India: Does Distance Matter?," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 21(2), pages 216-238, September.
    17. Shruti Malik & Girish Chandra Maheshwari & Archana Singh, 2019. "Understanding Financial Inclusion in India: A Theoretical Framework Building Through SAP–LAP and Efficient IRP," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 20(2), pages 117-140, June.
    18. Guo‐Hua Cao & Jing Zhang, 2022. "The entrepreneurial ecosystem of inclusive finance and entrepreneurship: A theoretical and empirical test in China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 1547-1568, January.
    19. Liu, Aiping & Urquía-Grande, Elena & López-Sánchez, Pilar & Rodríguez-López, Ángel, 2022. "How technology paradoxes and self-efficacy affect the resistance of facial recognition technology in online microfinance platforms: Evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Victoria I. Okafor & Isaiah O. Olurinola & Ebenezer Bowale & Romanus Osabohien, 2023. "Financial development and income inequality in Africa," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10160-:d:633158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.