WOMEN ALLIANCE TOASTS AGRICULTURE CREDIT WINDOW INITIATIVE

By Kalobwe Bwalya

THE announcement by the Government that it will soon open a credit window to farmers will allow more women in agriculture to enhance their productivity, the Zambia Alliance of Women (ZAW) has observed.

In an interview ZAW Executive Director Edah Chimya disclosed that about 60 to 80 percent of the country’s agricultural output came from women as were the largest in terms of the total number of farmers across the country.

Ms. Chimya said she was hoping that this will help more women to access loans because interest rates from banks were prohibitive and that this initiative will help farmers to get loans at considerable rates, noting that prohibitive rates discouraged women in agriculture from accessing such financial services.

She said women that were engaged in farming should be given first priority and that the process with regards to requirements so that it did not become ambiguous to attract more women from accessing the funds. 

She noted that if the process was flexible, it would allow more women to participate and be given a chance to access the loans.

“In the last farming season, farmers did not do well because of the drought so we are hoping that the borrowing rate may be minimal so that women in agriculture can be allowed to borrow enough money,” Ms. Chimya said. 

And Ms. Chimya has appealed to the Government to consider giving more inputs to women so that poverty could be alleviated especially in rural areas.

“ZAW is appealing to the Government to ensure that more women across Zambia access farming inputs especially in rural areas,” she said.

The Government announced that in a few weeks’ time, the Agriculture Credit Window will be opened and encouraged farmers to access services available.