RBZ to engage farmers

Enacy Mapakame
HARARE – The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says will engage farmers and banks to address the bottlenecks that harbor the access to finance by small to medium enterprise farmers.

This comes as farmers and farmer organisations especially those in horticulture indicated they experience challenges in accessing different facilities availed by the central bank to boost their production. The farmers argued banks made it difficult to access facilities through stringent requirements.

But RBZ deputy director international banking and portfolio management Ernest Matiza said the central bank prioritises production and as such would continue to engage the local banks and farmers to promote export growth. He however said farmers also needed to cultivate a culture repaying loans to foster mutual trust with the lenders.

“The RBZ is ready to engage farmers and banks to ensure access to the various facilities available that boost export production.

“The central bank prioritises production but as the activity increases, we also see an increase in demand for foreign exchange as companies want to import raw materials and increase production,” he said during an export financing workshop in the capital recently.

Farmers have also been asked to make use of the export credit insurance which offers compensation in case of loss, and allows them to enter new markets with confidence while expanding their presence where their business already exist.