‘FINANCIAL EDUCATION HELPING FARMERS TO BE PRUDENT’

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

THE introduction of financial education in the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Manual and Training Guide for Zambia will help smallholder farmers in rural communities to manage their resources prudently, taking farming as a business seriously, FinGen Money Genius Group Communications Officer Patrick Chipandwe has said.

FinGen Money Genius Group is an organization that trains financial counsellors to support smallholder businesses and households to manage and plan their finances properly to improve and sustain their finances for a sustainable financial wellbeing.

Mr. Chipandwe told The Scoop that the inclusion of financial education in the CSA Manual and Training Guide coincided with FinGen Money Genius Group’s effort to promote climate action agenda under its financial education programme being implemented in all Local Authorities and Constituencies across the country.

“As FinGen Money Genius Group, we are elated by the announcement that financial education has been included in the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Manual and Training Guide for Zambia. This will speak to the poor access to long term finance which is often a requirement for CSA as long term finance is not readily available to smallholder farmers to boost their agri- business activities

“As an organisation that promotes financial education we are currently implementing a programme dubbed the “National Level Financial Education Programme” in partnership with the ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in a bid to provide financial education to Marketeers and Smallholder farmers,” Mr. Chipandwe said.

He explained that the programme was an effort to promote diversification and sustainability of agribusiness activities among the farmers in the country. 

He further implored farmers to take the CSA manual and training guide seriously as it will help them implement effective climate smart agribusiness activities and properly manage their finances.