Impact of Rural Finance Institution Building Programme on Socioeconomic Condition of Beneficiaries in Anambra State, Nigeria

Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN) was established to improve the income, food security and general living conditions of poor rural households with financial services that will be improved in terms of quality, quantity and access to deposit, loan and transfer services. It is expected that the intervention of RUFIN should result in positive changes in the socioeconomic condition of the beneficiaries. The study evaluated the impact of RUFIN on the socioeconomic condition of RUFIN beneficiaries in Anambra State, Nigeria. Multistage, purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select 60 RUFIN beneficiaries (RB) and 60 non-RUFIN beneficiaries (NRB) for the study. Data were collected using structured interview schedule. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data generated. The average amount of loan obtained by RB was N67,266.70 at an average payback period of one year. Sex (t=-5.61) and years of farming experience (t=2.25) significantly (p≤0.05) influenced the amount of loan obtained while age (t=2.36) significantly (p≤0.05) influenced the number of loans obtained. RUFIN resulted in positive but not significant changes on 12(52.2%) of 23 items used in assessing the impact of the programme on the socioeconomic condition of the beneficiaries. The study recommended that RUFIN should enhance the loanable amount and payback duration which may in a long run, positively affect the socioeconomic condition of the beneficiaries. Also, farmers should be educated by extension agents on all sources of agricultural loans, use of loans, loans repayment plans, and how to diversify agricultural income for lasting impact on livelihood.