Civil society seeks parliament’s help in agric loans stalemate

Some members of the civil society, through a coalition of NGOs, have enlisted the support of parliament to urge banks to extend loans towards agricultural projects. Yesterday, a coalition of NGOs under their umbrella organization, CCOAIB, appeared before the parliamentary committee on political affairs and gender, and the committee of agriculture, livestock and environment to court partnership in the matter. During discussions, the NGOs said the agriculture sector faces many challenges, especially getting loans from banks for farmers and appealed to the MPs to advocate for them. Thérese Mukandoli from an NGO working on women rural development said it’s still difficult for farmers to get loans from the banks, and when they do, the payment terms were unfair. “When they get loans, they are asked to pay after two weeks or a month, yet the harvest is expected after three or six months. I think banks should have a special system designed for agriculture. You as MPs can probably do something to convince the banks to change the system,” she said. Gabriel Semasaka said the loans for agriculture in mainstream banks are difficult to get but there were other financial institutions that are more flexible. “In farming, there is lot of irregularities especially in terms of time. One person can cultivate today and harvest next year. All of these have to be taken into considerations when it comes to loans while also thinking on the bankers’ interests. It requires lot of efforts. It has been discussed for a long time however there are no tangible results yet. Even that branch which has been initiated in BRD didn’t change much,” he said. Ignatienne Nyirarukundo said civil society should take the lead to help people adopt modern agriculture which can create trust with bankers when it came to loans. “We conducted sufficient advocacy but it couldn’t create the trust among bankers. They want to be sure that if they lend their money, they will get it back. I think the ball is in farmers’ and civil society’s hands, not on the shoulders of the parliament or government. We have to work together to raise the level of our agriculture,” she said. Jean Claude Ngendandumwe, the Executive Secretary of CCOAIB, said they wanted to establish a strong partnership with MPs under the two committees working on politics and agriculture so that they exchange ideas. “They told us the parliament’s gates were open to every Rwandan who wants to participate in discussions about laws and they are given value regardless where they come from. We hope many issues concerning agriculture and good governance will be sorted out our through our partnership,” he said. Over 90% of Rwandans practice agriculture and many of them are still in subsistence farming. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Civil society seeks parliament’s help in agric loans stalemate