Posted on October, 25, 2019 at 09:35 am
THE Tanzania Private Agricultural Sector Support (PASS) Trust expects to reach at least 235,253 agricultural entrepreneurs and provide 210bn/- guaranteed loans so as to improve their farming and increase productivity.
According to PASS managing director Nicomed Bohay, the organisation will help farmers in various regions to increase their output by facilitating access to farm quality inputs, training and mentoring services.
“Through this initiative, we expect also to generate 700,000 direct and indirect jobs in the agricultural sector thus complimenting the country’s efforts to address unemployment in the country,” he said.
Bohay said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday during the event to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tanzanian Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) for establishment of a special agribusiness financing programme for youth, women and Small Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs).
He said the organisation helps people with innovative ideas to learn how to grow their businesses, access market and be able to build business partnership and networks for development.
The managing director also said that the bank is currently implementing an incubation project at the at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) to support young entrepreneurs who are involved in greenhouse production, fish breeding, poultry, goats, processing and small-scale farmers to improve their farming and thus grab local and international markets.
“We also have another centre at Kongwa in Dodoma region where we work with the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI) support young entrepreneurs with essential skills, knowledge as well as financially in livestock keeping, and meat processing,” he said.
Bohay said that since it its inception in 2000 to last year, PASS has supported a total of 929,102 agricultural entrepreneurs with guaranteed loans amounting to 712bn/-. The beneficiaries are from various sub sectors of livestock, crop production, processing, crop trading, irrigation infrastructures, crop transportation, bee keeping, fish farming as well as inputs trading.
“In view of this, we commit to continue facilitating collaboration in financing agribusiness undertaken by the youth, women and SMEs in the country,” he added.
PASS Trust is a Non-Governmental Organization which assists farmers to access loan facilities for viable investments through appraisal of loan write-ups in line with specific bank’s terms and conditions.
Source: IPP Media