AGRICULTURAL FINANCING ACROSS COMMODITY SPECIFIC CHAINS

AGRICULTURAL FINANCING ACROSS COMMODITY SPECIFIC CHAINS VECO REGIONAL WORKSHOP HELD FROM 6 TH TO 8 TH OCTOBER 2009 IN KAMPALA/UGANDA (Fairway Hotel at Nakasero) Conclusions and way forward (Boukari Ayessaki, Regional Credit Specialist) A/ OBJECTIVES AND OUTPUTS The three-day agricultural financing workshop organised by VECO Regional Office East Africa was held from 6 to 8 October 2009 in Kampala (Uganda). More than 60 participants from DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda participated to this great event. The open remarks were given by His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Uganda. The objectives of the workshop were as follows: 1. Share results of a desk review conducted to identify opportunities and hindering factors for small scale farmers and other agricultural chain actors accessing and utilising agricultural finance. # Partager les résultats de la revue documentaire menée pour identifier les opportunités et les entraves pour les petits producteurs et autres acteurs des filières agricoles qui accèdent et utilisent le financement agricole. 2. Share and learn from agricultural finance initiatives and experiences of various development organisations and finance institutions in Uganda and other experiences from Tanzania, DR Congo and Kenya. # Partager et apprendre des initiatives de financement agricole et des expériences de plusieurs organisations de développement ainsi que des institutions financières en Ouganda et autres expériences de la Tanzanie, de la RD Congo, du Kenya. 3. Identify the different needs of actors participating in specific commodity chains for financial products and services. # Identifier les différents besoins en produits et services financiers des acteurs participant aux filières agricoles spécifiques. 4. Identify capacity-building needs for NGOs, Financial Institutions and commercially orientated farmer organisations (cooperatives, business associations) to enable them carry out better their chosen roles in the development of agricultural market chains to the benefit of small producers. # Identifier les besoins en renforcement de capacités des ONG, des Institutions Financières et des organisations professionnelles agricoles (coopératives, groupements d intérêt économique) afin de leur permettre de jouer au mieux 1

leurs rôles qu ils auront choisis dans le développement des chaines de commercialisation agricole au profit des petits producteurs. 5. Increase the awareness of policymakers on the importance of access to agricultural finance and the factors which hamper this access by small scale producers. # Accroître la prise de conscience des décideurs politiques sur l'importance de l'accès au financement agricole et sur les facteurs qui font obstacle à cet accès par les producteurs à petite échelle. The expected outputs of the workshop were: 1. Increased awareness by policymakers and other stakeholders on the importance of access to agricultural finance and the factors which hamper this access by small scale producers and how best they can be addressed. # Prise de conscience accrue des décideurs politiques et autres parties prenantes sur l'importance de l'accès au financement agricole et sur les facteurs qui font obstacle à cet accès par des petits producteurs et sur la meilleure façon d'y faire face. 2. A deeper insight in the specific requirements for financial products and services according to specific commodity chains and chain actor groups. # Un examen plus approfondi des exigences spécifiques pour les produits et services financiers en fonction des filières agricoles spécifiques et des groupes d'acteurs de la filière. 3. A comprehensive report of the proceedings and all the discussions with issues, strategies and action areas for the different stakeholders in addressing the issue of agriculture credit financing. # Un rapport détaillé du cheminement et de toutes les discussions relatives aux enjeux, aux stratégies et aux domaines d'action pour les différents acteurs à aborder la question du financement du crédit agricole. 4. Uganda national farmers federation (UNFFE) to develop further strategies based on the outcome of the workshop for policy influencing on national level. VECO Uganda/East Africa and finance institutions will be involved in this process. # La Fédération Nationale des Agriculteurs Ougandais (UNFFE) à développer davantage de stratégies basées sur les résultats de l'atelier en vue d influencer les politiques au niveau national. 2

A/ SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS During three days of hard working the workshop has come out with key elements as conclusions and way forward A1/ Key challenges to farmers and other agricultural chain actors accessing agro-finances 1. Low levels of production that do not attract support by financial institutions (small scale, constrain of realizing strong producer groups/organizations); 2. Farmer unfriendly conditionalities set by finance institutions (e.g. land as collateral, unrealistic grace period, etc.); 3. Negative attitude of finance institutions which look at small scale farmers as not bankable and agriculture as a highly risky business (affected by weather, environment, price, market, lack of contractual marketing/financing,, and lack of collateral); 4. No third party risk mitigation for production (producers bear full risk of their operations); 5. High interest rates offered by Financial Institutions which are focused on making profits and minimizing costs. (Even the Prosperity for all-pfa - Bonna Bagagawale follows the policy of these institutions making it difficult for farmers access the funds; the proposed 9% ends at 18 % due to related costs); 6. Untimely disbursement of funds by financial institutions to farmers who have chance to be qualified for funding; 7. Farmers inadequate knowledge and skills on loan management including poor record keeping (e.g. poor track record); 8. Weak farmers and other chain actors organisations (both horizontal and vertical integrations); 9. Many existing financial institutions but very few offer agribusiness financial products and services (even those which offer, the products and services are often inappropriate); 10. Lack of farmer involvement in development of agrifinancial packages/products and services. Products and services developed by financial institutions do not cater for the farmer needs; 11. Poor saving culture among farmer groups; 12. Using commodity as collateral: Finance institutions drugging to give farmers loans using the ware house receipt system; 13. Poor farmer access to information on agrifinancing and/or agrifinance institutions; 14. Weak, informal producer groups, a deterrent to consideration by finance institutions 15. Inadequate government budget to agricultural development; 16. Limited capacity of finance institutions to lend (e.g. SACCOs are not effective. The money distributed is not enough for members to do profitable investments); 3

17. Unfavourable/conflicting policies that need review (warehouse receipt system); 18. Limited commitment by government to agricultural development. A2/ AVAILABLE OPPORTUNIIES TO ACCESSING AGRO-FINANCES Despite the challenges, some opportunities are available for small scale farmers and other agricultural chains actors namely: 1. Financial institutions like Centenary Rural Development Bank in Uganda, Farm Concern in Kenya, and SACCOs that offer agricultural financial products and services (e.g. working capital, finance for marketing, equipment/asset loans, asset leasing, etc.); 2. Conducive (policy, political) environment as an incentive for financial institutions (Government of Uganda Guarantee, Agricultural credit fund, fiscal incentives); 3. Supportive civil society, NGOs like VECO, Farm Concern International in Kenya, MVIWATA in Tanzania CECAFEP in DR Congo; 4. Existing apex bodies for farmer organisations (e.g. UNFFE, KENFAP, LOFEPACO) that facilitate establishment of strong member groups; 5. Established ware house receipt system; 6. Existence of chain actors organisations/development of partnerships: horizontal and vertical integration; 7. Existing insurance companies; 8. Existing commercial banks and non bank financial institutions; 9. Investment funds from government and donors. A3/ Strategies to improve agri-value chain financing The following strategies were defined to improve agricultural financing: 1) Capacity building of farmers Strengthen capacities of farmer groups and empower them to have a collective voice; Organize farmers for bulk production and marketing so as to live up to the economies of scale and become eligible for financing; Train farmers on entrepreneurship, business and loan management, negotiation and leadership. 2) Farmer mobilization, sensitization and organization Mobilize and organize farmers to form sustainable groups and a critical mass for agriculture production and advocacy; 4

Sensitize farmers on importance of agricultural financing in agriculture development; Sensitize and facilitate farmers to be insured. 3) Establishment of an effective and efficient Agricultural Finance information System to involve all stakeholders along the agricultural supply and demand chain Avail farmers with information on existing financial institutions, conditionalities and available products and services; Financial institutions need to improve on their outreach programmes to the rural communities; Enhance use of IT (telephones, support internet services for farmer organizations); 4) Involvement of farmers and other chain actors by finance institutions in development of financial products and services Identification of farmers /stakeholders needs along the value chain to enable financial service providers develop products that take care of farmers needs and other chain actors; Involve farmers in developing appropriate financial products and services. 5) Strengthen and /or develop partnerships, networking, linkages and collaborations among value chain actors Small scale farmers are not so organised to access agric finances. There is need to put intermediaries in place who can help farmers access finances for specific commodities like is done for tobacco by British American Tobacco and Sunflower by Mukwano Industries. 6) Establishment and/orstrengthening savings and credit schemes Establishment and/or strengthening savings and credit schemes for small scale farmers which can also be a source of finances for the members. This will easily be supplemented by the finance institutions. 7) Advocacy on: a) importance of agrifinancing; b) increasing agriculture budget by the government; c) establishment of more agridevelopment oriented banks. 8) Mainstreaming property rights: government to facilitate farmers acquire land occupancy certificates that can be used as collateral by farmers. 5

B/ WAYFORWARD 1. VECO to put in place a working group to draw an implementation plan and advocacy strategies. (The working group could include VECO, UNFFE, Centenary Rural Development bank, Equity bank, GTZ, UNADA, Microfinance Service Centre, AMFIU, Commodity group and other chain actors): To support UNFFE in developing advocacy strategies on agrifinancing; To advise on appropriate financial products and services for agricultural chain actors, particularly small scale farmers. 2. Farmer organisations to establish/strengthen member groups savings and credit schemes. Money saved will act as a base for agricultural financing to members but also for other financial needs (health, school fees, etc). 3. In order to develop products tailored to farmer/stakeholder needs along the value chain, financial institutions need to carry out a value chain analysis to identify customer needs and get in-depth knowledge on commodities. 4. The government needs to review/design appropriate policies and strategies to improve access to agrifinances for small scale farmers and other chain actors. Increased farmer/stakeholder access to such finances will help increase productivity, food security and household incomes. 6