FARMERS IN NAKONDE ADVISED TO PLAN BEFORE ACCESSING SAFF LOANS
FARMERS intending to access credit under the Sustainable Agriculture Financing Facility (SAFF) have been advised to properly plan before accessing the loans in order to avoid facing difficulties when paying back. Nakonde District Agriculture Coordinator,
Solar Lameck Chola says farmers need to be strategic if they Pumps are to be able to pay back the loans without difficulties.
Mr Chola who was speaking in an interview ZANIS notes that applying for the loans in good time will enable the farmers to manage their yields well.
“A serious farmer needs to understand the best time to apply for a loan because they need to pay back,” he said.
Meanwhile, the District Agriculture Coordinator has disclosed that the
disbursement of loans under SAFF is going well and 91 farmers have so far received their voucher cards to enable them to redeem inputs from Agro Dealers.
Mr Chola said the office has to date, received over 200 applications and
Submersible more farmers are still eager to access the agricultural loans under SAFF Pump sets
He added that farmers who applied earlier and already collected the inputs are appreciative of the government for the initiative.
Mr Chola also disclosed that the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) for the 2023/2024 farming season has been concluded successfully and inputs have been distributed to 11,913 beneficiaries.
He expressed hope that the farmers will record a bumper harvest seeing that the district has not been subjected to a dry spell this farming season.
“This time around we have not yet experienced any dry spell except at the onset of the rains in November, so we expect that even our farmers who have benefited from SAFF will be able to pay back the loans,” he said.