The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock has announced that it will lend 1.1 billion afghanis to 14,300 farmers in two three-and five-year terms.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Sunday by Emal Arman, President of the Agricultural Development Fund, ADF, and officials from First Micro Bank, Access Afghanistan, Finca Afghanistan and Tarh-e-Naw, financial institutions providing agricultural loans.
Minister of Agriculture Anwarul Haq Ahadi also spoke at the signing ceremony. Under the MoU, 1.1 billion afghanis is to be lent to the four institutions to provide small loans to farmers.
According to the terms of the memorandum, the four institutions must provide smaller loans to farmers and agricultural activities.
According to Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, four specific sectors of agriculture will benefit from these loans. Of 1.1 billion Afghanis, 500 million will be given to the first small loan bank, 3 million Afghanis to Access Afghanistan, 100 million to FINCA and about 200 million Afghanis to Tarh-e-Naw.
The Ministry of Agriculture has said that 14,300 farmers are benefiting from these small loans in the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Development Fund has lent 13.2 billion Afghanis to 104,066 farmers in 32 provinces since its inception.
