| dc.description.abstract | The study was carried out to assess the effect of access to formal finance on performance of retail tomato traders in Kampala district. It was guided by the following objectives: To characterize retail tomato traders, determine the factors that affect access to formal finance by retail tomato traders and determine the factors that influence performance of retail tomato traders in the Kampala district.This study employed across section research design and focused on collecting data to explore and explain the effect of access to formal finance on performance of retail tomato traders in Kampala. The sample size of this study was 110 respondents. Primary data werecollected by structured questionnaires. Descriptive and linear regression models were used to analyzethe data obtained from the field.The study foundoutthat 57.3% of the respondents were female, the average age was 34 years, and 66.4% were married with average household size of six members. Theresultsalso revealed that most of the respondents received formal education with an average of 9.81 years of schooling and also had 8.26 years of marketing experienceon average. Only 44.5% of them had access to formal finance and the average amount of credit obtained within the last one year was found to be Shs.1, 926,530 and Shs.283, 877 were the average amount of formal credit invested in tomato business. Short shelf life, low demand, price fluctuation, high transportation and finance were the most common challenges faced by retail tomato traders in the study area. Result of linear regression analysis identifiedthat retail tomato traders are not likely to have access to formal finance. Also indicated that age have positive and years of experience have negative effect on formal access to finance and amount of credit invested in tomato business by respondents have negative influence on performance (marketing efficiency). The study recommends that formal institutions should work with retail tomato traders in the study area and teach these traders on how to have account in the banks and its importance, how to apply for a loan and how to use it in order to obtain profits in their business and pay back in time. This will enable even the young people to have access to formal finance in the study area | en_US |
