TADB plans to provide loans to 500,000 farmers

DAILY NEWS Reporter in Simiyu

TANZANIA Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) is working on a comprehensive capacity building programme designed to enable over 500,000 smallholder farmers form groups to secure soft loans.

TADB Manager of Public Relations and Marketing, Mr Said Mkabakuli said the programme will also benefit the farmers since they will be linked to both local and international markets.

“Farmers training is under the TADB Five Year Business Plan (2017-2021) which includes capacity building for farmers in production groups whereas it can be easy for them to get loans from financial institutions,” he said.

Mr Mkabakuli was speaking to the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mr Omar Mgumba when he visited TADB pavilion at the Nane Nane Exhibition in Bariadi’s Nyakabindi grounds that the bank was committed to ensure the farmers countrywide benefit from the bank and contribute significantly in agriculture sector.

“We are devoted to empower smallholder farmers so that they meet criteria needed for them to access loans from any financial institutions within and outside the country for improved productivity,” he said.

He said that by the third quarter of 2018, the bank has trained more than 17,000 small scale farmers in capacity building in the areas of financial management, groups and associations, good governance and records keeping.

“We also trained them on how to come up with the best projects write-ups that meet the soft loans requirement in banks and financial institutions” he said.

Earlier, Mr Mgumba called on TADB to embark on sensitisation programme so that more Tanzanians especially farmers to understand loan opportunities available and majority of them could easily access. Mr Mgumba said small scale farmers need the information most since they are in dire need of loan facilities to increase their productivity.

“You must publicise your operations and services so that farmers could know where and how they can get loans when they are looking for the facilities,” said Mr Mgumba who expressed his optimism for the bank.

TADB has issued 39.3bn/- for 68 agricultural projects which has benefitted more than 527,280 small scale farmers countrywide.