Equity unveils Sh500m for dairy farmers

KENYA - Equity Bank has extended a Sh500 million line of credit to dairy farmers delivering their milk to New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC).
calendar icon 7 November 2006
clock icon 1 minute read
In the arrangement, the bank will provide short-term loans which will be recovered from deliveries to KCC through a check-off system.

The bank’s managing director, Mr James Mwangi, said the line of credit will run for three years and would enable dairy farmers across the country obtain loans to build their stocks and buy farm inputs.

"We are looking at a credit programme geared towards building the capacity of dairy farmers to overcome challenges of financing for farm inputs, artificial insemination services and improvement of stock quality," he said.

Mwangi was speaking during the signing of the financing deal with the New KCC chairman, Mr Matu Wamae in Nairobi yesterday. Kenya Dairy Board managing director, Mr Machira Gichohi, witnessed the signing.

Mwangi said financing would range between Sh1,000 to Sh500,000 and would be offered to individuals, mainly peasant farmers, and farmers’ organisations.

Wamae said dairy farmers were still faced with a myriad of problems that include inadequate access to animal feeds and mineral supplements, expensive artificial insemination services from private service providers and lack of proper storage facilities. He welcomed the initiative saying the revival of the dairy sector heavily depended on giving incentives to smallholder farmers.

Source: eastandard.net
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