Commercial Micro-Credit, Neo-Liberal Agriculture and Smallholder Indebtedness: Three Bangladesh Villages. Issue 2 (15th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Misra, Manoj
• Is Part Of: Journal of contemporary Asia. Volume 51:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 330
• Page End: 350
• Publication Date: 2021-03-15
• Subjects: Micro-credit -- smallholder -- indebtedness -- rural financing -- agrarian reform -- Bangladesh; Asia -- Periodicals; 915.005
• DOI: 10.1080/00472336.2019.1696386
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0047-2336

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Evidence suggests that smallholders are fast becoming one of the largest micro-credit recipient groups in Bangladesh. However, the literature on the effects of micro-credit use among smallholders is surprisingly deficient. This article seeks to rectify this gap by highlighting the ramifications of micro-credit's foray into the subsistence agriculture sector. It analyses the ostensibly disparate processes of mounting smallholder indebtedness and the phenomenal rise of micro-finance institutions in Bangladesh in light of the country's broader context of agricultural commoditisation, input subsidy reduction and a systematic lessening of the subsidised agricultural credit system. The article uses the concept of "accumulation by dispossession/encroachment" to argue that persistent borrowing from micro-finance institutions (MFIs) exposes smallholders to the risks and volatilities of the market. Using qualitative insights from a case study of three villages, it demonstrates how the capital accumulation model of Bangladeshi MFIs marginalises smallholders and ensnares them in a perpetual cycle of debts.