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Actors, roles and interactions in the innovations development process for smallholder farmer agricultural financing solutions in Uganda
Abstract
In Africa, financial institutions involved in agricultural financing are challenged by smallholder farmers' low consumption of agricultural finance facilities. This leads to marginal investments that translate into low agricultural productivity, low gross domestic product, and limited employment opportunities that lead to inconsistent community development. Introducing collaboratively driven innovations through actor networks in the innovation development process for financing solutions for smallholder farmers facilitates the development of competencies that improve performance through effective communication between the actors and end-users. Therefore, this study aims to assess the innovation development process that led to the development of smallholder farmer financing solutions (Innovations) for smallholder farmers' consumption of agricultural finance. The authors adopted the qualitative research design, specifically through case studies to gather detailed and contextual insights from respondents about the actor’s involvement and/or experience in the financial solutions development process for financial solutions and how the process addresses the consumption of agricultural finance. Data collection was conducted through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Findings indicate that smallholder farmers, as the ultimate users of these financial solutions required greater involvement in the development process to ensure that the resulting innovations effectively met their needs. Various actors exhibited different roles and interests throughout the process, highlighting the power dynamics present within the Financial Solutions Development network. Notably, the Centenary Bank and the World Bank emerged as the most influential entities, significantly impacting the selection of participants in the development process. The study underscored the immense value of diverse actor networks in fostering successful innovation development.
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References
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DOI: 10.33687/ijae.012.003.5468
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