One strategy that is achieving great popularity and wide acceptance is that of micro finance, as best exemplified by the success of the Bangladesh Grameen Bank, which has now also achieved even greater recognition through the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Mohammad Yunus. But most micro finance is not only for crops, but for other lending, in both rural and urban areas.
The main issue is that of reducing transaction costs for both the lender and the borrower. For banks, micro finance agencies and other financial intermediaries to look at rural lending as business opportunities, much more information generation has to be done so that they recognise and understand the many different activities that take place in the rural economy in addition to crop agriculture.