Looking beyond credit : business development services and the promotion of innovation among small producers

In recent years, credit has become the predominant form of support to small producers, while other forms of business development services have diminished.

This book assesses the need for targeted business development services other than finance, their growing importance among small producers and how they can work in tandem with credit schemes.

The book shows that small producers generally face a range of constraints other than finance, such as access to improved technology, raw materials, skills training and information and market opportunities.

Therefore, schemes that address these constraints are achieving a larger impact.

The case studies examined here record significant achievements in terms of unemployment generation, increased incomes and product innovation and diversification, thus supporting the view that targeted business development services can play a bigger role and should be incorporated in with credit schemes to provide total support to small producers.