The General Manager of TOENDE Rural Bank in Bolgatanga, Atorka Salifu Gande has admonished farmers in the Upper East Region to take advantage of their agriculture financing model this farming season to boost productivity.
According to him, lack of collateral for credit facilities, access to postpaid farm inputs, and post-harvest losses have hindered agricultural growth among smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana and remain a disincentive for many youths.
To help address challenges facing rural farmers and make farming attractive to the youth, the TOENDE Rural bank has designed tailor-made agricultural financing schemes to support farmers’ produce for both local consumption and export.
Speaking at the launch of the TOENDE Rural bank’s branch in Bolgatanga, the regional manager of the bank said, the bank will be a vehicle to alleviate poverty by supporting rural farmers and pretty traders to improve their livelihood.
He told Citi Business News that their agric financing model will support farmers to produce more foodstuff to mitigate the negative effect COVID-19 has brought on imports of foodstuff.
“We are into agric financing; we don’t give loans as physical cash to the individuals so that they divert the funds. What we do is, give cashless loans without credit. Cashless loans mean that we (TOENDE Bank) will pay for tractor service, farm inputs like fertilizers, weedicide, and harvesting services and then convert them into loans for the farmer, and it has gone a long way by giving us close to 100% recovery all year round”.
Mr. Atorka added that the bank has also been supporting pretty traders, particularly those in the villages, to undertake profitable economic ventures in their bid to reduce poverty in rural areas.
He said, about 1,200 persons in rural areas of the region have benefited from the bank’s loans to improve their living standards, adding that, the bank will soon expand its operations to cover many rural areas.
Mr. Atorka admonished residents, particularly farmers in the region, to exploit the opportunity to improve their livelihood and contribute to the food security of the region.