By Sylvia Juuko

OVER 300,000 households across the country are expected to benefit from a $25m (about sh50b) agri-business loan scheme by Stanbic Bank, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Kilimo Trust.

Stanbic will provide $25m for lending over a period of three years, while AGRA and Kilimo Trust offer a $2.5m loan guarantee fund.

The funds will target food crops like maize, sunflower, barley, rice, sorghum, beans and soy beans.

“We have already started partnering with farmers and small-medium-enterprises. We hope this loan will impact on 300,000 households because we are targeting a range of crops,” said Lillian Bazaale, the Stanbic Bank manager for agricultural banking.

The scheme was launched last year with 60% of the funds targeting smallholder farmers and the entire value chain of the crops from primary production, post-harvest handling, storage, processing, transportation and trade in agricultural inputs and produce.

“The groups are required to have off-take contracts from reputable buyers and we shall be financing them to acquire the right seeds (high quality), fertilizers and other inputs. They can also access farm machinery,” Bazaale explained.

She said seven farmer groups with membership of between 100-1000 people have benefited from the funding in Masindi, Bukedea, Pallisa and Kapchorwa.

“These smallholder farmers will ordinarily not be able to meet banking requirements.

“We hope that with this scheme we will make smallholder farmers bankable so that they can learn to transact, save and use the banking services,” she said.

Bazaale said 40% of the money would go to small to medium scale enterprises in the agricultural value chains like seed trading firms and suppliers of fertilizers.