Impact of Participation in Village Savings and Lending Associations on Rice Productivity and Income in the Mvomero District, Morogoro, Tanzania

We assess the impact of participation in service bundled VSLAs on rice productivity and income among smallholder rice farmers in Mvomero District. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to assess the effect of participation in VSLAs on rice productivity and income. PSM show participation in VSLA has a positive and significant impact on rice productivity and income for smallholder rice farmers. Participation in VSLAs increases farmers’ ability to regenerate income for investing in improving productivity and income, and enhancing rice sector development. VSLAs proves as a tool building financial capital through savings and easy access to credit in rural areas