The early agricultural credit programmes suffered from a number of
naive assumptions, and were also cast in a decidedly unfavourable mar-
ket environment. For example, in the 1950s and 60s a large number of
donor and government credit programmes attempted to stimulate the
adoption of new technologies and thus to increase on-farm production.
They were supply-driven, targeted to specific beneficiaries and/or commodities and often charged subsidised lending rates. They also failed to
reflect the key aspect of the productivity and profitability of input use
under widely varying standards of on-farm management, and the important signals provided to lenders when a farmer shows willingness to use
at least part of his or her own resources to purchase improved inputs.
(Roberts, 1975)