Northern farmers decry lack of access to loans from commercial banks

Farmers in the Northern Province have decried what they call reluctance by financial institutions to grant them loans, which they say is a major impediment to agriculture modernisation.The farmers say they are committed to modern farming but are let down by banks that are reluctant to release money to finance farming ventures. Yves Iyaremye, who runs a piggery in Burera District, said he could do more breeding once given a loan.“Banks do not consider farming to be a profession. They fear that we will misuse the money,” Iyaremye said.Frederick Ntawuruhunga, who owns a banana plantation in Gakenke District, said he has been looking for a loan from different banks for the last four years but in vain.“They seem not to have any interest in my project. They have totally neglected the sector,” Ntawuruhunga said, adding that farmers do not want free money and are capable of servicing the loans.“Both the government and businesses encourage us to embrace professional farming but there remains a disconnect. We have limited capacity and quite often run short of money to improve the sector, thus we fail to professionalise it. Banks need to open doors to farmers,” he said.Other farmers said getting a loan requires them to present other projects other than agriculture-based. “Farmers present other projects to banks and invest the money in modern farming,” one of the farmers said.Banks speak outClaude Kagiraneza, FINABANK Assistant Manager, Musanze Branch, said farmers apply for loans and divert the money to other ventures. “They do not invest the money in farming and sometimes disaster strikes and farmers fail to replenish the loans,” Kagiraneza said. He, however, said that farmers who have professionalised their practice can easily access loans. “Professional farmers can get a loan a day after they have submitted their projects,” Kagiraneza said, adding that they consider professional farmers like other members of the business community.Poor projectsThe president of the Private Sector Federation’s chamber of agriculture, Jean Munyemana, who was in Musanze on Tuesday for an agr0-business and post-harvest forum, said the only way to attract banks to farmers is ensuring markets for the produce.“Our country’s economy hinges on agriculture and EDPRS2 has modern farming as one of its pillars. We need to link farmers to insurance companies and banks so that each side knows what they stand to benefit,” said Munyemana.EDPRS is the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy whose implementation started this year and is to be implemented for five years. Insurance companies working with farmers include SORAS and COGEAR.

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Northern farmers decry lack of access to loans from commercial banks