The Agricultural Development Bank (adb) has trumpeted its continued support to the agric sector ahead of the Farmers Day celebration on Friday, as it advanced more loans to the agric sector last year than any other bank in the country.
Established half a century ago to by an Act of Parliament to meet banking needs of the Ghanaian agricultural sector in a profitable manner, the bank last year granted GH¢381million loans to the Agric sector, representing four times its advances to the sector over the past five years.
This is in spite of the fact that default rate in the sector is highest in the economy, due to weather-related challenges as most of crop production is undertaken under rain-fed conditions.
In 2014 the fisheries aquaculture sector benefitted most from the bank’s credit facilities, securing more than GH¢125.3 million while the Industrial Crops sector got GH¢60million.
Farmers in the Food Crops sector secured GH¢38.6 million, followed by the Livestock and Poultry sector which had GH¢22million; with Agro Marketing and Agro Processing securing GH¢3.9 million and GH¢130.8 million respectively.
adb’s advances in the agricultural sector in the past five years amount to GH¢500million, the highest investment into agriculture by any bank in the country.
Making a presentation at the National Farmers Day forum at Bolgatanga in the Upper West region, Mrs. Sylvia Nyante-Head of Agricultural Finance at adb, indicated that the agro processing sector has witnessed a significant increase in advances with the best-performing sector being fishing and aquaculture.
According to her, ADB is working hard to ensure that the Ghanaian farmer gets the best financing packages for their activities.
“As a bank, we are determined to ensure that we provide all the necessary financial resources for our farmers to engage in profitable ventures in the sector, so as to be able to feed our nation and also export some outside. We have many packages our farmers and fishers can enjoy when they fulfil the basic requirements to access a loan facility of their choice,” she said.
Mrs. Nyante, who also acted as fund manager for several projects, said adb offers massive support to develop the agro processing sector to serve as a useful linkage for the primary production sector.
“The Agricultural Development Bank, even in the face of stiff competition, is determined to maintain its position as the best agric-financing bank in the country,” she added.
According to Mrs. Nyante, certain challenges continue to affect investments of the bank in the sector — and these include underdevelopment making the export market unable to meet export standards; inadequate agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation; processing and storage facilities, and the importation of cheaper agricultural produce.
Touching on the impact of ADB’s investment in the sector, she said that the bank has helped to provide funds for investment in providing raw materials for agro processing companies, development of the poultry industry from a subsistence level to a commercial state, as well as importation of fishing inputs for artisanal fishing.