An Assessment of Credit Management among Cotton Farmers in the North-Eastern Zone of Ghana: The Case of Farmers at the Bunkpurugu Zone and RMG Cotton Ghana Limited.

Access to credit facilities remains a critical issue in the agriculture sub-sector of Ghana's economy. It remains a major challenge that requires the attention of the stakeholders in the sector. In Ghana, there has been significant involvement of companies and corporate organisations in the area of credit access to farmers. In the cotton sector of the agriculture sub-sector for instance, there had been several companies participating in the credit advancement to farmers but could not sustain their operations and ended up folding up. Against this backdrop, the study sought to explore the management of credit among cotton farmers. It among other things examines the compositions of credits advanced to farmers, measures taken to monitor credits, challenges in credit management and the impact of credit on farmers'endeavours. The population targets for the study consist of farmers who are the majority, RMG Cotton staff/management, as well as MOFA district Officer at Bunkpurugu. The simple random sampling method was used to select farmers through, structured interviewswith the MOFA official. Purposive sampling was used on RMG cotton staff/management. Descriptive statistics: percentages and frequencies were used for analysing quantitative data while thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative data. The findings from the study indicate that all inputs are supplied to farmers on credit by the companies and repayment is through seed cotton purchases during the marketing period. It was also found that eventhough there has been training and monitoring, the issue of default was rife among the farmers. It is therefore recommended that stakeholders engage in rigorous training and education of farmers on the use and application of credits in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]