Theme: Suitable Finance for Agricultural Households
The ill-effects of unsuitable finance tend to be felt more by workers in the unorganised sector, amongst which are those engaged in agriculture. Agricultural workers are unique among other unorganised workers in their livelihoods are dependant on circumstances that are highly unpredictable. This, as well as the cropping cycle usually means that they do not have a regular source of income. As a result, regular finance, with its calculations made based on monthly averages, falls short of being able to address the issues faced by agricultural households.
At Dvara Research, the Household Finance Research Initiative aims to rigorously understand the financial choices and decisions of low-income or excluded individuals and households, and their relation to achieving households’ objectives. We realise that one cannot look at the financial well-being of households without ensuring that they are protected from being prescribed unsuitable methods by which to achieve it. We believe that financial service providers must ensure that the customers’ interests are adequately and effectively protected as a matter of business process.