ZIMPPET farming loans doubled

07 Dec, 2014 - 00:12 0 Views

The Sunday News

us dollarsDalphine Tagwireyi  Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Progressive Pensioner Trust (ZIMPPET) has this season doubled its budget for its agricultural loan inputs scheme from $150 000 to $300 000 and at least 100 farmers per province are set to benefit, an official said.According to information from the organisation, the scheme is targeted at pensioners who benefited from the Land Reform Programme to ensure viability of the acquired land as the agricultural sector has been affected by poor lines of credit due to economic hardships faced in the country.

In an interview with Sunday Business, ZIMPPET vice-president, Mr Abraham Deketeke, said the number of pensioners who require inputs had increased, therefore, they had increased the initial budget to assist as many farmers as they could to ensure that the 2014-2015 farming season produces a meaningful yield.

The facility was launched in June this year.

“Since we launched the agriculture inputs loan facility, we have extended more than $150 000 and the interest for loans continues to grow, hence we will now increase it to $300 000 and we expect to assist more than 100 farmers per province,” said Mr Deketeke.

Mr Deketeke said the loan facility they offer was meant to complement Government efforts to boost food security through indigenous farmers.

“Most of the people who benefited from the land reform programme are pensioners and most of them are facing financial challenges to fund production at their farms due to the absence of affordable loans from local banks,” he said.

Mr Deketeke said ZIMPPET would assist farmers with working capital to boost their yields in a bid to improve the country’s food security as acquired land should not be lying idle due to lack of farming inputs.

ZIMPPET chief executive officer, Mr Wellington Zunde, said the scheme was membership-driven and the increase in loans meant that it was a programme well received by pensioners as they had faced challenges when applying for loans at banks.

“Local banks are battling a biting liquidity crunch and they have remained reluctant to lend to farmers as a large number do not have the required collateral,” said Mr Zunde.

Mr Zunde added that the organisation had partnered a local engineering company to supply pensioners with low-cost farming equipment under the loan facility.

“Our members have paid a certain amount to acquire farming implements such as tractors and ploughs and the company has already supplied the machinery to our members so that they boost production.

Our farmers have to be fully equipped to increase their productiveness and enable them to repay their loans,” said Mr Zunde.

Besides inputs, ZIMPPET provides working capital for projects such as fish farming, poultry, bee-keeping, potato farming and piggery among others.

Though the 2014-2015 cropping season began in late September, many farmers have accessed inputs as ZIMPPET are distributing compound D and ammonium nitrate fertilisers and seed maize nationwide.

Officials at the trust said they had distributed over 300 tonnes of fertiliser and 600 tonnes of seed maize with Mashonaland East being the last benefactors who received inputs on Thursday.

Since the launch of the programme, beneficiaries have been receiving fertilisers that cover at least one hectare depending on the crop the farmer intends to produce.

ZIMPPET programmes officer, Mr Godknows Gutsa, said most of the projects they had financed were viable as most of the beneficiaries had the skills to run them.

“Our members are trained on various agricultural projects before funds are availed to them to start their businesses and this has encouraged viability for our projects with at least 70 percent of the projects operating profitably,” he said.

He said the trust had officers in different parts of the country who also monitor the projects to ensure that they are being implemented correctly.

Despite years of declining agricultural output due to persistent droughts and lack of inputs, Government has struck the right chord by ensuring that most rural households have access to inputs.

The country’s agriculture sector is on the rebound following more than a decade of decline due to various reasons which include illegal sanctions imposed on the country.

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