AGRICULTURAL FINANCE CORPORATION (AFC) IN PARTNERSHIP TALKS WITH CHEMELIL SUGAR TO SENSITIZE FARMERS ON FINANCIER’S 5 PER CENT INTEREST LOANS, TO UP-SCALE CANE DEVELOPMENT

- ‘To Enable Youth Loans’ also disbursed by AFC

AGRICULTURAL FINANCE CORPORATION (AFC) board of directors have held partnership talks with Chemelil Sugar Company to sensitize farmers on available single interest rate 5 per cent loans at AFC for cane development, aiming to up-scale supply to the factory and enhance national food security.

The partnership talks were held at the Company during a courtesy call by AFC Board Directors, led by the Board Chairman Hon. John Mruttu. Other AFC Board directors in attendance were Hassan Mohamud Haji, Dr. Zablon Nyaenya Ayiera, Julius Mutethia, Hon. Eng. Karue Muriuki, and AFC Kisumu Branch Manager Kiptoo Arap Maiyo. The AFC team toured a section of the factory and visited a large-scale cane farmer, Paul Obura.

Chemelil Sugar Company’s team during the partnership talks was led by Company Managing Director (MD) Moses K. Kolum and included acting Head of Agriculture Jorim Osewe. The Corporate Affairs Section was represented by the writer.

During the talks at the MD’s office, AFC Chairman Mruttu, a former Taita Taveta County Governor, appreciated the brief by MD Kolum about the Company, its cane development programme, and its engagement with farmers, including factory cane milling and sugar production.

Mruttu lauded the ongoing partnership talks with Company management to sensitize farmers that AFC, as a Government parastatal, is an existing alternative financier available to fund cane development within Chemelil’s cane catchment zone for growers who supply sugarcane to the Company’s factory.

MD Kolum thanked the AFC Board of Directors for the courtesy call and fact-finding visit, and for choosing the Company as a key State-owned miller to play a pivotal role in sensitizing farmers about AFC loans for cane development.

Kolum mentioned that to facilitate farmer sensitization, the Company has agreed to allow AFC to pitch a tent within the Company precincts to promote their products and services, especially the available low-interest funds to assist farmers in cane development.

“As part of the agreements during the talks, the Company has also agreed that AFC Kisumu Branch Manager Kiptoo Arap Maiyo will attend a farmers' meeting organized by the Company’s Agriculture Department to explain and inform growers about financial and other products available at AFC. During the meeting, AFC will address any farmers' queries,” the MD added.

To bolster the partnership, Kolum said he will soon lead a team of senior managers, including acting Heads of Agriculture and Finance, along with a representative from Corporate Affairs, to Nairobi for follow-up partnership talks with AFC Managing Director George Kubai.

“Since AFC Board of Directors have opened doors for the Company, following the partnership talks, we will pursue the discussions at the AFC headquarters in Nairobi to formalize the partnership,” the MD reiterated.

In closing, Kolum mentioned that Company management also discussed a unique AFC loan product designed for youthful farmers aged below 35 years, adding that “this unique AFC loan product is intended to make farming attractive to the youth and is interest-free.”

“As a Company, we are very willing to partner with AFC and become an agent for facilitating farmers to acquire cane development loans from AFC, since we know the hardworking and bona fide sugarcane growers,” Kolum said.

Separately, in an interview with Chemsugar News, AFC Kisumu Branch Manager Maiyo said the financier is ready to loan cane development funds to farmers within Chemelil’s cane catchment zone who supply sugarcane to Chemelil Sugar Company. “We want farmers to know that, apart from cane development funds disbursed by the Sugar Directorate, AFC also provides similar credit at a very low single rate of 5 per cent,” Maiyo added.

“If we get many farmers from Chemelil’s cane catchment zone applying for AFC cane development loans, it will enhance sugarcane growing, and Chemelil Sugar Company will benefit from increased cane supply to the factory. The growers will also contribute towards the country’s food security program,” Maiyo urged.

Maiyo said AFC wants the Company to actively sensitize farmers about available cane development funds at AFC and is also keen to support financing for the purchase of farmers' inputs and the dissemination of field extension information about good sugarcane husbandry practices.

The Manager added that AFC is ready to enter into an Irrevocable Order (IRO) arrangement, through which Chemelil Sugar Company, as the market contact business entity, will assure and facilitate the recovery of loaned cane development funds from farmers and ensure they also earn a profit from sugarcane farming.

Maiyo revealed that AFC also provides asset financing to farmers and is ready to extend this facility to cane farmers within Chemelil’s cane catchment zone, enabling them to purchase farm assets and machinery such as tractors, pick-ups, and other farming implements. He said AFC’s ‘To Enable Youth Loan’ is a credit facility under the ‘Enable Youth Kenya Programme.’

BY BOSCO MAGARE, CHEMELIL SUGAR