NMB, American financial institution ink farmers’ loan pact
What you need to know:
The National Microfinance Bank (NMB) is collaborating with an American institution, the John Deere Financial, in a project that seeks to help farmers access loans affordably. The two, and the local John Deere dealer LonAgro, yesterday signed an agreement that will see emerging commercial farmers and emerging mechanized contractors trained to access credit and address the cost of credit.
Dar es Salaam. The National Microfinance Bank (NMB) is collaborating with an American institution, the John Deere Financial, in a project that seeks to help farmers access loans affordably. The two, and the local John Deere dealer LonAgro, yesterday signed an agreement that will see emerging commercial farmers and emerging mechanized contractors trained to access credit and address the cost of credit.
The NMB head of corporate banking Filbert Mponzi, said the move is in recognition of the role that agriculture plays in uplifting Tanzania’s economy yet farmers find it increasingly difficult to access loans.
“For decades, we have seen farmers facing challenges in accessing credit facilities due to lack of collaterals…with this agreement, they can now access tractors without additional securities,” he said. The move will also help smallholder farmers and small scale contractors to employ on farming technologies.
According to him, the contractor model which John Deere has developed in cooperation with the bank, offers an innovative solution to farmers. NMB is already reaching over 600,000 smallholder farmers by financing their crop production. It is also targeting larger commercial farmers and supporting their growth.
John Deere Financial managing director for Sub-Saharan Africa Antois Van der westhuizen said their aim was to help small-scale farmers improve efficiency.
