SIF to offer credit to 4,000 farmer groups

More than 4,000 farmer-groups in six districts in Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions, are to benefit from a credit support from the Social Investment Fund (SIF), to expand their farms and boost production.

Qualified individuals and groups can receive between GH? 40,000 and GH? 100,000.

Mr. Ofosu Kwateng, the Fund’s Zonal Coordinator for the two regions, told the Ghana News Agency that this would be done over a period of four years, and that the disbursement has already started.

It targets those into grains and cereal farming, legumes, fruits and vegetables cultivation, he added.

The selected districts are Afigya-Kwabre, Ahafo-Ano South, Sene East and West, Nkoranza North and Asunafo North.

The SIF is an intervention to fight rural and urban poverty, and jointly supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Mr. Kwateng said the goal was not only to provide farmer-groups with access to loans, but to also build their capacity through entrepreneurial and management skills training.

This, he noted, was the way forward to help them operate efficiently, to raise output and returns.

He said alongside the farmer-groups, women engaged in agro-processing, marketing and the food value-chain, would be assisted with working capital and other vital equipment.