Monitor farm clinic: BoU tasked on affordable loans

Bank of Uganda (BoU) has been called upon to design loan packages that cater for smallholder farmers.
While officially closing the 32nd edition of the Daily Monitor Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic at the National Coffee Research Institute (NACORI) in Mukono District on Saturday, Ms Sarah Kataike Ndoboli, the director of policy and planning at Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), said available agriculture financing does not support smallholders farmers, which makes it difficult for them to kick off commercial agriculture production.
“The available Agriculture Credit Financing (ACF) is only being accessed by large scale farmers yet we have the biggest majority of small scale farmers. Design lower packages that can supplement the Parish development Model so that our farmers benefit,” Ms Ndoboli, who represented OWC boss, Gen Salim Saleh, said.
ACF, which has long been contested by farmers over its hard accessibility, was rolled out by BoU in 2009 to support farmers who are struggling to access affordable financing by issuing loans at a 12 percent interest rate per annum.
Ms Ndoboli said smallholder farmers need to access this funding at ease and in small packages depending on their needs to enable them fully engage in commercial agriculture.
The head of credit analysis and publicity of the ACF at Bank of Uganda, Ms Sarah Mubuke Nantongo, assured farmers that funding is available for them.
“We are revising our memorandums of understanding with commercial banks so that the issues being raised by farmers are resolved,” she said.
Excited farmers said the clinic helped them in enhancing their skills, especially in crop handling from the garden level up to post-harvest.
During the sessions, different trainers from the Naro and NACORI explained to farmers different types of good crops to plant and the proper garden and post-garden management skills.
The deputy director general of National Agriculture Research Organisation (Naro), who is in-charge of technology promotion, Mr Kasim Sadik, said Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic is the best initiative the Monitor has done for the country because “it contributes directly to the farmers”.
“This platform brings farmers to access funding, meet with experts, and brings us the policymakers closer to them. I call upon the Monitor to continue promoting this specific initiative because as Naro, we are committed to continue partnering with you,” he said.
Uganda, he said, targets to produce 20 million bags of coffee per year and with such initiatives, this will be possible since farmers are linked to better practices.
Dr Godfrey Arinaitwe, the executive director of NACORI, said the farm clinics help them to share their research with farmers.
“Research is an engine for coffee and cocoa growing. If we do not invest in research, we will continue to produce less yet we have the potential to become of the biggest exporters of coffee,” he said.
BoU, which co-sponsored the farm Clinic with Stanbic Bank and Naro, pledged continuous commitment towards the initiative.
The Seeds of Gold Farm Clinics is an initiative of the Nation Media Group (NMG) being run by Daily Monitor.
This edition majorly focused on training farmers in value addition in three major crops; Coffee, Cocoa, and Bananas.
The next Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic is expected to be held in Arua next month.
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