Are Credit Doors Equally Open? Gender Perspectives on Agricultural Credit Access in Sub-Saharan Africa

Access to credit is vital for smallholder farmers, but gender disparities persist across the world. We study the determinants and gender disparities in agricultural credit access between female-headed households (FHHs) and male-headed households (MHHs) across five Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries: Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. We employed the probit and Oaxaca-Blinder probit decomposition models on a random sample of over 18,000 households. Three primary results were found. First, socioeconomic, institutional, and location-specific factors affect agricultural credit access, with some differences observed between FHHs and MHHs. Second, both rural FHHs and MHHs are more likely to access agricultural credit than their urban counterparts. Additionally, on average, 10.36% of MHHs are more likely to access agricultural credit than FHHs across the five countries. This gap varies considerably, with Nigeria exhibiting the largest disparity (19.64%) and Ivory Coast the smallest (2.15%). Importantly, a large portion (87.55%) of the gender gap is from unexplained/unobserved sources/effects, highlighting significant structural barriers faced by FHHs. Land ownership, age, and credit perceptions contribute to widening the gender gap, while equalizing location, socioeconomic status, trust, and past borrowing could reduce it. We recommend tailored agricultural credit programs that promote gender-inclusive and sustainable agricultural development in SSA.