Does Rwanda’s flagship microcredit programme boost agriculture and incomes?

One of the three components Rwanda’s flagship anti-poverty programme, Vision 2020 Umurenge (VUP), is provision credit to relatively poor households, nearly all them farmers. In this paper we estimate impact programme using high-quality household survey data from 2013/2014 and 2016/2017. Using panel data, double-difference model shows that households borrow increase their stock livestock. This confirmed by cross-section inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment models, which also find VUP borrowing leads more purchases farm inputs, greater consumption (especially home-produced food), lower poverty, secondary school enrolment, but not hours worked. While loans account for only 2% value microcredit in Rwanda, they do help fill a need production at scale large enough be able appreciably agricultural other assets, ultimately income.