Medium-Sized Farmers to Benefit from Ksh. 20 Billion from Equity Bank

Kenyan Medium-sized farmers are set to benefit from 20 billion shillings meant to transform farming into serious commercial enterprises.

Equity Group Foundation, through its Agriculture Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, will be offering loans to farmers in a move to improve their livelihoods through serious commercial enterprises

The program, which is set to run for the next five years seeks to benefits farmers with 10 to 100 acres of land to help enhance food security and bridge the annual deficit.

These farmers will be able to have easy access to loans that will boost their farming practices thus turn commercializing the sector more.

The program will see beneficiaries get a minimum of 1 million shillings with the bank targeting 20,000 farmers under the program.

Equity chief executive officer James Mwangi said that the foundation will continue to work with industry partners to intervene in areas where the project beneficiaries still face challenges that hinder them from realizing increased farm income.

According to Mr. Mwangi, the project has directed its activities to facilitate production related training such as soil health and crop management, dairy production, water management and post-harvest handling.

Equity Bank and the embassy of Netherlands have been running a three-year 341 million shillings Agriculture Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme that targeted medium-sized farmers in Eastern, Central and Rift Valley regions.

The Netherlands Ambassador Frans Makken noted that food systems must not only be able to provide food security to the growing world population but must also deliver diverse, nutritious diets that are affordable and accessible to all.