Bank plans 100 million dollar scheme for African farmers

9/04/2010 10:30:18 PM

ACCRA – Standard Bank Africa announced Friday a 100 million dollar scheme to reach some 750,000 small scale farmers in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda in a bid to boost output.

"The private sector needs to roll up its sleeves and join the public sector as it works to build the agricultural capacity of the continent," the bank's chief executive Clive Tasker told AFP at an agricultural forum in Accra.

The scheme will hand out loans to some 750,000 smallholder farmers in Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda over the next three years, and the bank is keen on funding popular cash crops such as cocoa and cashew nuts.

The Standard Bank loans will be rolled out in partnership with an agriculture development organisation, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development earlier told reporters that there are some 80 million smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa responsible for 80 percent of agricultural output.

"Supporting smallholder farmers would not only enhance world food security, but would make a significant dent in poverty," he said.