ZSIC, Access Bank agree to help small-scale farmers
ZSIC, Access Bank agree to help small-scale farmersWritten by George Zulu in Monze
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 4:39:11 PM
ZAMBIA State Insurance Group and Access Bank Africa have agreed to help small-scale farmers in Zambia under the New Munda credit scheme run by the National Association for Peasant and Small Scale Farmers of Zambia. This is an K8 billion credit scheme aimed at improving food production in the country.
ZSIC managing director Irene Muyenga said this in an interview after the launch of the agriculture inputs distribution for 2009/2010 farming season in Monze.
She said the scheme was meant to empower small-scale farmers throughout the country and that her organisation, which would act as collateral, had partnered with Access Bank to finance the credit scheme.
Muyenga said farmers should take this opportunity seriously and ensure that the funds which were in form of all the inputs needed were utilised accordingly in order to improve their livelihood and contribute towards the credit scheme.
“ZISC has entered into this business as collateral while Access Bank is financing the programme but I have to quickly mention that farmers to benefit from this credit scheme should work towards increasing their production in order for them to improve their livelihood and contribute towards the credit scheme,” she said.
Muyenga said her organisation was aware how risky the agriculture sector was but indicated that it was worth investing in the sector.
“We are not only dealing with individual farmers under this credit scheme but we have also involved their leaders and farmers have been trained on how to handle and avoid risks on their farm, we shall also monitor the developments and officer necessary extension expertise for this programme to yield positive results,” said Muyenga.
And during the official launch of agriculture inputs distribution at Zambia College of Agriculture (ZCA) in Monze, agriculture minister Dr Brian Chituwo said it was not possible for government alone to reach the over 1.2 million farmers across the country due to resource constraints.
Dr Chituwo said the government initiated the FSP to improve access of small-scale farmers to inputs on matching grants basis, adding that the private sector was encouraged to actively partner in supplying inputs to farmers.
“As government will not always meet the national requirement hence our resolve to support this initiative. It is therefore encouraging and indeed commendable to see such programmes which are not only farmer-driven but also offer long-term solutions to input distributions,” said Chituwo.
And National Association for Peasant Farmers of Zambia president Rodgers Phiri said the K80 billion empowerment would bring about food security, increased income and improved standard of living among the rural populations.
Phiri said his organisation would soon introduce rural banking as a way of empowering people in rural areas.
Labels: ACCESS BANK, AGRICULTURE, BRIAN CHITUWO, IRENE MUYENGA, MONZE, RODGERS PHIRI, ZAMBIA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, ZSIC
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