Agric Minister to meet BoG, Finance Ministry on financing module to support millers

The Minister of Food and Agriculture is to meet with officials of the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance on a proposed financing module to boost the operations of millers of various grains in the country.

It follows concerns that millers are unable to buy all or most produce such as rice, sorghum and soya.

Already, the government’s quest to boost the consumption of made in Ghana rice has rekindled concerns about how to finance players in the supply chain.

Agric Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, told Citi Business News the meeting should come out with ways to ease the burden confronting farmers of such crops.

“It is really to do with the fact that we are doing well with production. The next step is how to manage the surpluses that are coming. We need processors to take the output from the farms, to process them, and package them for markets to ensure preservation, and secondly to add value to what we are doing” he said.

“Millers of rice, soya and others come to the Ministry to complain about the fact that they don’t have enough working capital. There are private sector people, they have invested in plant and machinery, but working capital to buy the produce from the farmers is a problem. So I am seeking a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and the Governor of BoG to see how best using current resources can be used to support the value chain so that we can sustain the production”.

Access to credit generally remains a problem for businesses in Ghana, especially those in the agric sector.

Lack of access to credit affecting our operations – Local Rice Millers

The Rice Millers Association of Ghana for instance, has blamed inadequate financing for their inability to purchase the huge volumes of rice produced by farmers across the country.

The Millers say most financial institutions are more interested in funding those who imported rice into the country, rather than supporting local producers.

The Convener of the Rice Millers Association of Ghana, Yaw Adu Poku, says the collateral demands by the banks often discourages them.

Banks and other financial institutions to be trained on agricultural credit risk management

Meanwhile, banks and other financial institutions in the country will soon be trained with the requisite practical knowledge and skills needed to enable them increase financial access to agriculture and agribusiness organizations.

The program, spearheaded by the Ghana Incentive-based Risk System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) with assistance from the National Banking College will also build the capacities of the staff of the beneficiary institutions to appropriately appraise agricultural projects that require funding to reduce the issue of non-performing loans.

Source: Citibusiness