Perspective of participatory finance in the financing of Moroccan farmers: Case of the Marrakech-Safi Region

Abstract

A healthy banking sector plays a vital role in the economic stability of a country. Every bank offers a range of products to meet the financing needs of its customers. Among these products, participatory finance products represent an opportunity for these banks to differentiate themselves from their conventional counterparts. The Islamic finance industry model is increasingly attracting the attention of researchers, stakeholders and policy makers in the financial sphere. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the determinants that could encourage Moroccan farmers to resort to participatory banking. To this end, we conducted a survey on a sample of 194 farmers in the Marrakech-Safi region. We note that univariate, bi-variate and multi-variate studies, coupled with the regression method via the SPSS software, were carried out. This research has shown us that for the farmers in our sample, convenience, price, reputation and quality of service offered are the main determinants of preference for participatory banking products. However, our study shows that religion is not a determining factor in the choice of a participatory banking product.

This research, on the one hand, contributes to identifying the determinants of the choice of participatory financing; and on the other hand, informs the managers of participatory banks on the determinants to be considered when choosing the products offered to clients in the agricultural sector.

However, the main limitation of this study lies in the limited number of variables used to determine the criteria for adopting the products offered. A model containing more variables could be developed to analyse Moroccan farmers' perception of participatory banking.

Mots clés : Financement participatif, GRC, échelle de mesure, secteur agricole.

JEL Classification : T1 Q14

Paper type: Empirical research