Ghanaian farmers make more money with tractors, but lenders ignore the women

Tractor services significantly increase profits for smallholder maize farmers in Ghana. But most farmers, especially women, cannot afford them, limiting wider adoption.

Development programs have pushed for agricultural mechanization in Africa, often assuming that simply making machines available would be enough. This study shows that the problem is not just access to machines, but access to credit, especially for women farmers and those with larger plots. It means that simply providing tractors will not boost food production or farmer income unless financial barriers are addressed first.