Farm Characteristics on Credit Access among Smallholder Tea Farmers in Kericho County, Kenya

The tea crop is a major income earner and employer to numerous smallholder farmers and value chains in in Kenya. Most of the tea crop and processing plants are in the County of Kericho, and there is potential for improved production in response to the progressive Global demand for the produce. Despite the presence of several credit service providers in the County, the tea farmers still have challenges in accessing financial services to improve their production performance. Moreover, there was inadequate evidence on credit access by the farmers. This study analyzed the farm characteristics on credit access against the income of 150 smallholder tea farmers, who were sampled from 109,401 tea growers distributed in 11 tea factories in the County. The findings revealed that land size and the number of tea bushes significantly influenced credit access; with the farmers having larger land sizes being associated with higher borrowing and credit access. Financial literacy and availability of suitable credit products were noted as challenges to uptake of available credit services.