The Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness has called on the government to make readily available for farmers and players in the value chain a credit facility at a single digit interest rate.
The President of the Chamber, Mr. Morrison Anthony, made a strong case before the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, at an agriculture fund submit in Accra.
The chamber believes, the single digital interest rate, when approved and implemented, will enable actors in the industry to produce more to feed the country.
“For us to have a resilient economy the agriculture sector cannot be overlooked and there is the urgent need for the Ministry to make funds readily available at a very modest rate for ‘agriprenuers’ in the country,” he stated.
He said clear example can be seen in Nigeria, which is currently practicing this system. He insisted that this is impacting positively on their economy.
Mr. Anthony is of the view that, the ‘abnormal interest rates’ is keeping many entrepreneurs and farmers out of active service, a situation he described as very sad and unfortunate, in this modern day of Agribusiness.
On the issue of the unemployment rate, he said the sector alone when propelled could employ more than 70% of the total population.
He also expressed worry that farmers are unable to access credit, given that the commercial banks do not have such credit facilities.
