Posted on July 20, 2009 - by boris

Members of Parliament in Ghana have approved loan agreement for Agriculture Development…

Modern Ghana posted:

Members of Parliament have approved a $6 million loan agreement between the Government of Ghana and the International Fund for Agriculture Development to support Rural and Agriculture Finance Programme (RAFIP) in the country.

The aim is to support improved agriculture and sustainable livelihood of the rural poor, particularly women and vulnerable groups.

Presenting the report on the floor of the house, Chairman of the Finance Committee and MP for Ketu North, Hon James Klutse Avedzi described the loan as timely, saying it will enhance implementation of government policies in the agriculture sectors and its pro-poor programmes.

He hinted that the loan facility will benefit poor small scale farmers living in rural areas who derive their livelihoods from agriculture as well as the youth and women.

Mr Klutse Avedzi stated that the focus of the RAFIP is extending the outreach of financial system to support agricultural communities, especially the northern part where poverty is concentrated.

He said the committee is informed that one of the major problems hindering agricultural development is inaccessibility of farmers to source fund from financial services and indicated that the loan facility will introduce schemes that will deal with such constraints in order to boost growth and productivity.

According to the Chairman, the programme will focus on the applying microfinance, value chain and other methodologies to develop and pilot suitable savings, loans and risk management products in collaboration with rural and community banks. He disclosed that the loan which has no interest will be paid after 30years with 10years grace period.

Meanwhile, Members of Parliament are on recess to embark on their various constituency works and will resume on Tuesday, 20th of October 2009.

Source:http://www.modernghana.com/news/228335/1/parliament-approves-loan-agreement-for-agricultura.html