Read the passage below carefully and evaluate the statement that follows:
In the riverine community of Patigi, Kwara State, traditional paddy rice processors long relied on open-air sun drying, leaving grains vulnerable to unpredictable rainfall and avian pests. The recent introduction of bio-waste-powered mechanical dryers enabled participating female-led cooperatives to produce uniformly moisture-controlled paddy year-round. This technological shift allowed these cooperatives to negotiate direct purchase agreements with commercial millers in Kano, bypassing traditional middlemen and securing a thirty percent price premium. However, microfinance records indicate that while cooperative members successfully reinvested these profits into expanded cultivated acreage, independent processors within the same community experienced a sharp contraction in credit access. Local lenders increasingly viewed non-mechanized processing as a high-risk venture, restricting capital to those unable to meet the operational standards set by commercial buyers. Thus, while the innovation enhanced overall regional output, it restructured local financial access to the detriment of non-participating processors.
Statement: The tightening of credit access for independent rice processors in Patigi was primarily a consequence of financial lenders re-evaluating risk in response to commercial market shifts, rather than an absolute drop in local paddy production.
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