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Fish farmers in Africa often operate on small-scale culture units, primarily due to poor access to funding and low technology adoption. Digital innovation platforms seek to enhance farmers’ access to finance, production and farmers’ income. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support these claims. Therefore, this study investigated the factors influencing fish farmers’ access to microcredit from digital innovation platforms and the impact of this microcredit on fish farms’ yield and income in Nigeria.

A mixed-methods approach was adopted, and data were gathered from 387 fish farmers through a well-structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. The data were analyzed using probit regression and instrumental variable two-stage least squares regression.

The results revealed that ownership of smartphones, awareness of digital agricultural innovation platforms, farmers’ education, income, fish farming as a primary occupation, cooperative society and extension contacts positively influenced farmers’ access to microcredit from digital innovation platforms. The age of farmers and household size negatively influenced their access to digital microcredit. Digital microcredit positively and significantly impacted fish farms’ yield and farmers’ income.

Digital microcredit significantly increased fish farm yield and income. Therefore, digital innovation platforms should be encouraged and promoted through the creation of awareness about their ability to solve inadequate financing in agriculture by agricultural extension agents.

This study contributes to our understanding of the influencing factors for farmers accessing digital microcredit and how digital microcredit enhances farm yield and income.

After a long observation of the high rate of rice importation and low productivity in Côte d’Ivoire, the certified rice seed was introduced and encouraged to be used by the local farmers. This study evaluates the profitability of rice production and the impact of certified seed usage on the yield and income of farmers in Côte d’Ivoire.

Data were collected from 265 rice farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the challenges faced in using certified seeds. Profitability analysis was used to examine the profitability of rice production. To eliminate bias due to the counterfactuals, the endogenous switching regression was employed to investigate the impact of the certified seeds on income and yield.

The difficulties faced by the rice farmers in the procurement of certified seeds were the unavailability of seeds, the high cost of seeds and poor credit access. Furthermore, rice farmers using certified seeds get a higher net income (USD 263.74/ha) than those using farmers' seeds (USD 212.31/ha). The average treatment on the treated was 1.61 for the yield and 574.75 for the income. The average treatment on the untreated was 1.20 for the yield and 422.59 for the income. These indicate a higher yield and income among adopters of certified rice seed.

Certified rice seed usage is profitable and enhances the output and income of rice farmers. The study advocates the creation of a stronger relationship between the farmers and the extension agents to encourage the use of certified seeds and increase the profit of the farmers.

There is scant information on the profitability of certified rice seed usage and how it affect yield and income. Therefore, this study serves as empirical evidence for policymakers to develop strategies that are required to enhance certified seed usage, boost rice productivity and achieve food security.

The problem of inaccessibility of finance for farm investment is a common phenomenon among farmers, especially the rural dwellers. Thus, there is a need to know how the accessibility of informal finance can be increased to increase farm investment. Therefore, this study evaluates farmers’ access to informal finance and its contribution to farm investment among rural farmers in Northcentral Nigeria.

A three-stage random sampling technique was employed to select 160 farmers. Primary data collected were analysed with descriptive statistics and the Heckman selection model.

The study revealed that cooperative society is the major informal means of loan acquisition used by the farmers followed by Rotational Savings and Credit Associations (RoSCAs). Informal loans contributed to agricultural investment through the various operational activities involved in production. Factors influencing farmers’ access to informal loans were the age, farm size and income of the farmers. Interest charged, farmers' age, farming experience, household size, education and loan duration were the drivers of the amount borrowed from the informal financing sector.

The findings of the study call for policies that will sustain informal financial institutions in developing economies, like Nigeria. Thus, the government through its regulatory agencies should assist informal finance providers with the necessary resources to achieve more goals. This is because the informal credit lenders help in bridging financial gaps created by formal financial institutions, such as commercial banks.

Unlike the previous research studies, this study investigated the driving factors of the amount borrowed from informal finance and its use in farm investment.