News / Agriculture
Value project promotes access to finance for small, medium pork producers
27 Apr 2022 at 07:53hrs | Views
The VALUE project is promoting access to finance for value chain upgrading for small and medium scale pork producers in 8 districts where the project is operational.
This is revealed in the latest Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) latest newsletter.
"To date, the project has run three pilots in Marondera district and recently extended the same facility to Goromonzi, Murehwa, Seke, Mhondoro Ngezi and Chegutu districts.
The project's Value Chain and Market Systems Development Specialist, Alex Nyakatsapa said, "the financial inclusion component is premised on four objectives namely, the development of new financial and technological products to improve market function and inclusiveness, increasing access to tailored financial products for small and medium producers, promoting the inclusion of women and youth farmers in accessing financial products and increasing business management capacity and financial literacy among the key market actors."
A multipronged approach to value chain financing is being used to cater for the various types of farmers registered by the project namely, loans from Formal Financial Service Providers, co-financing arrangements, Internal Savings and Lending schemes and smart subsidies.
Under the formal loan facility, to date a total group loan of $44 366 602.72 has been secured from First Mutual Micro Finance to date, for the bulk purchase of essential inputs such as maize, soymeal and premixes as well as vaccines.
The capital injection is targeted at addressing the biggest cost drivers in pig production such as feed costs. The facility is addressing bottlenecks at the production node of the value chain for small and medium scale farmers.
" I no longer worry about working capital requirements and focus my energies on other key aspects of my business such as production and capital infrastructure developments, this financing initiative is truly a game changer," said Brian Nyatanga, one of the beneficiaries of the loan facility.
On the marketing front, through direct meat marketing consignment stockist arrangements, the farmers are guaranteed offtake of their pork after the cycle at competitive prices.
"A total of 964 porkers with an average cold dress mass of 65kgs and total weight of 62,660kgs were produced by the Marondera group of farmers from the first and second batch of loan disbursements," says Nyakatsapa.
As the project continues with the value chain financing initiatives, focus will be on increasing outreach to other districts under the PVC and the GVC, utilising the Meat Marketing Centre to unlock potential funding options for the SMP, promotion of ISALs with emphasis on investments in PVC and GVC upgrading activities and increasing product diversity to finance capital investments such as breed improvement, improved housing infrastructure, installation of sustainable water supply systems and the acquisition of improved production technologies.
This is revealed in the latest Zimbabwe Agricultural Growth Programme (ZAGP) latest newsletter.
"To date, the project has run three pilots in Marondera district and recently extended the same facility to Goromonzi, Murehwa, Seke, Mhondoro Ngezi and Chegutu districts.
The project's Value Chain and Market Systems Development Specialist, Alex Nyakatsapa said, "the financial inclusion component is premised on four objectives namely, the development of new financial and technological products to improve market function and inclusiveness, increasing access to tailored financial products for small and medium producers, promoting the inclusion of women and youth farmers in accessing financial products and increasing business management capacity and financial literacy among the key market actors."
A multipronged approach to value chain financing is being used to cater for the various types of farmers registered by the project namely, loans from Formal Financial Service Providers, co-financing arrangements, Internal Savings and Lending schemes and smart subsidies.
The capital injection is targeted at addressing the biggest cost drivers in pig production such as feed costs. The facility is addressing bottlenecks at the production node of the value chain for small and medium scale farmers.
" I no longer worry about working capital requirements and focus my energies on other key aspects of my business such as production and capital infrastructure developments, this financing initiative is truly a game changer," said Brian Nyatanga, one of the beneficiaries of the loan facility.
On the marketing front, through direct meat marketing consignment stockist arrangements, the farmers are guaranteed offtake of their pork after the cycle at competitive prices.
"A total of 964 porkers with an average cold dress mass of 65kgs and total weight of 62,660kgs were produced by the Marondera group of farmers from the first and second batch of loan disbursements," says Nyakatsapa.
As the project continues with the value chain financing initiatives, focus will be on increasing outreach to other districts under the PVC and the GVC, utilising the Meat Marketing Centre to unlock potential funding options for the SMP, promotion of ISALs with emphasis on investments in PVC and GVC upgrading activities and increasing product diversity to finance capital investments such as breed improvement, improved housing infrastructure, installation of sustainable water supply systems and the acquisition of improved production technologies.
Source - Byo24News
