Warehouse Receipt System

Abstract

This study assesses whether Warehouse Receipt System [WRS] has made any contribution in improving smallholder farmers' access to financial services. The study used cross sectional design where 80 smallholder farmers in Hai and Siha districts in Kilimanjaro were covered. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to analyze the data. The results showed that males have awareness and participated more in the WRS than females even though, most of their farms are small. The motives that were used to influence smallholder farmers to join WRS included price, access to credit and access to market, although, most of the farmers participate into WRS to access credit. Moreover, level of farming technologies adopted found to have increased significantly after joining the WRS. Based on these findings, it is recommended to increase sensitization efforts among the smallholder farmers in order to enable the larger spectrum of the community members becoming aware of the WRS practice. Also, policy maker should deliberately intervene to strengthen the capacity of WRS