The Sunday News
Thandeka Matebesi, Farming Reporter
AGRICULTURAL experts have welcomed the re-launching of TN Livestock Trust (Private) Limited saying the move will go a long way towards enabling farmers to embrace farming as a business.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) executive director Mr Paul Zakariya said the recognition of cattle as a bankable asset has opened a window for farmers to access a flexible finance package to enhance production at their agricultural enterprises.
“We spoke to TN Bank around 2012 and we were actually very keen on getting this idea we are rolling out, that will give value to the animals that are owned by farmers out there. It is a positive step and we support it very much because farmers can actually borrow against the certificates that they would have received from the banker, animals that are banked with the bank. We want to work together with TN Bank in promoting this initiative so that it becomes a success,” said Mr Zakariya.
TN Livestock Trust is set to re-open a cattle bank in Featherstone in May.
The cattle bank, a 540-hectare farm in Featherstone, about 100 kilometres from Harare, was initially opened in 2013 and had as many as 600 cattle deposited by interested farmers at the time.
Federation of Farmers Union president Mr Wonder Chabikwa said the re-launching of the livestock bank comes at a time when farmers have over the years relentlessly complained over the punitive interest rates and conditions required by financial institutions to access loans.
“We need an agricultural bank whose loaning conditions are geared towards what used to happen in the past. We are not talking about re-inventing the wheel, let’s just flip back on pages and see what conditions were in place when agricultural production was at its best. Farmers used to get loans from agricultural banks and it started by what was called the Land Bank, which was giving out loans at very developmental rates, then we moved on to Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), which was also giving out loans to farmers at very low rates with up to 15 years to pay. That’s why things used to move well,” he said.
However, Zimbabwe Farmers Union vice-president Mr Winston Babbage said although the opening of the livestock bank was a noble move there was a need for the financial institution to have embarked on wider stakeholders consultations consulted to ensure a buy-in of the model.
“The initiative is really a noble idea and as ZCFU we appreciate what the bank is doing to assist farmers. However, we want to make sure that all the modalities are sorted out before any of our members join or accept the offer. We also hope that in the future the bank consults us as farmers so that we submit our contributions when it comes to such initiatives,” he said.
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