Assessing the impact of Opportunity International’s Agricultural Lending Program

Opportunity International's 2013 impact assessment of its agricultural lending program, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The MasterCard Foundation, offers a good look at its model for serving smallholders, and an early indication of client impact, including the following observations:

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1. Client farmers increased their crop yields through attaining enhanced access to agriculture loans, modern agricultural inputs and training in good agricultural practices.
2. Client farmers increased their agricultural productivity by using loans to rent or purchase additional land. They were also better able to hire labor for farm and non-farm business activities, creating jobs in their communities and diversifying their incomes.
3. Client farmers connected with more reliable local crop markets with transparent pricing arrangements, offering them access to better prices for their farm outputs.

Following on the encouraging results from this study and with an eye toward better understanding the counterfactual, Opportunity is commissioning an international evaluator to conduct a quasi-experimental study of its new agricultural finance program funded by The MasterCard Foundation.