Prime
Do more for farmers, Majaliwa tells banks
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa visits the pavilion of the Chilongola Agro Forest Group of Mafinga in the Iringa region at the Nanenane International Farmers Exhibition at the John Mwakangale grounds in Mbeya on August 3, 2023. On the right is the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe. PHOTO | PMO
What you need to know:
- The Prime Minister made the call at the weekend when he visited the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) booth at the Nanenane Agriculture Exhibition held at the John Mwakangale grounds in Mbeya
Mbeya. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has called on financial institutions to design more services aimed at solving challenges facing farmers.
The Premier made the call at the weekend when he visited the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) booth at the Nanenane Agriculture Exhibition held at the John Mwakangale grounds in Mbeya.
According to him, the provision of low-interest loans for farming equipment will help to stimulate agricultural revolution by increasing production speed and incomes for farmers.
“The government has always been urging and requesting various financial institutions to increase their efforts in innovating their services in order to come up with solutions for various economic groups according to their specific needs,” he said.
NBC has Shambani product which allows the bank to support farmers get loans for important agricultural equipment.
NBC head of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), product and agriculture, Raymond Urassa, said that through a partnership with Agricom, an agricultural input company, the bank has already provided loans for agricultural equipment worth Sh2.3 billion to various farmers in the country.
“Our efforts are just a continuation of many of our efforts that we focus on in the agricultural sector to support the government’s efforts in promoting agriculture,” said Mr Urassa.
The bank also handed over a loan comprising a tractor and a plough worth Sh62.1 million to rice farmer Evarist Msasi from Mbarali district in Mbeya during a brief handover ceremony at the event grounds.
Mr Urassa stated that since the start of the partnership with Agricom, NBC has empowered farmers with loans for 20 tractors, 15 combine harvesters, and 10 power tillers.
Mr Urassa invited farmers to take advantage of the opportunity to receive agricultural equipment loans.
Managing director of the Tanzania Sisal Board (TSB), Saddy Kambona, congratulated NBC and Agricom for supporting the government’s efforts to uplift the agriculture sector in the country.
He stated that the government’s goal is to ensure that farmers move away from traditional agriculture, which is not profitable for individual income.
The executive director of Agricom, Alex Duffar, noted that in a short period of time, the company has managed to increase its sales by ten times compared to last year thanks to the bank’s partnership.
