Stakeholders Raise Concern Over Limited Credit Access for Smallholder Farmers

By Anthony Chomba,

Stakeholders in the agricultural sector have raised concerns over limited access to credit financing, especially for smallholder farmers.

This was revealed during a meeting on Knowledge and Information Sharing on Agricultural Legal Reforms in Lusaka.

The meeting, organised by the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI), aimed to create a clear, fair and more resilient agriculture system that will secure food security and job creation in Zambia, among other goals.

Speaking during the meeting, IAPRI Executive Director Dr. Brian Mulenga outlined how the bills under the agricultural reforms will help transform the sector.

These bills are the Agriculture Marketing Bill, Food Reserve Bill and the Agriculture Credit Bill.

Dr. Mulenga said the bills will make it easier for smallholder farmers to access credit facilities, unlike the current situation where they are denied collateral in the form of crops.

Speaking at the same event, Professor Frank Kayula expressed optimism that the bills will help increase productivity amongst farmers.