Agritech Expo to Address Finance Challenges of the Zambian Farming Community
Summary
Mr Bruce Dick, Managing Director of Zanaco (Zambia National Commercial Bank) sees as some of the main challenges for the country’s agricultural sector “the lack of security (titled land) to enable farmers to borrow and the lack of financing for Capex and working capital purposes.” Zanaco is the diamond sponsor for Agritech Expo and will provide a free talk on finance for emergent and small holder farmers at the event.Says Mr Dick: “in living our mandate of financially including the unbanked bankable people in rural and urban Zambia, we are committed to continuously invest in innovative but affordable products and services.These are our partners and are one of the leading suppliers of farming equipment.” “Financing solutions should be flexible” “Agriculture in Zambia is showing great signs of growing,” says Antois van der Westhuizen, Head of Retail at John Deere Financial and another speaker at Agritech Expo in Chisamba.At the upcoming Agritech Expo at GART in Chisamba from 16-18 April, local agri experts will be on hand with free financial advice that is specifically geared towards to the agricultural sector and meeting Zambian challenges.From live crop trials to machinery demonstrations, the event services the needs of the entire agri-value chain in Zambia and the region.“Lack of security for farmers to borrow”The expo in Chisamba also offers a range of free, technical and practical workshops on 17 and 18 April to assist small, emerging and commercial farmers in various sectors of agriculture, from using the latest technologies, to improving their productive capacity to accessing the necessary finance to grow and expand.Mr Bruce Dick, Managing Director of Zanaco (Zambia National Commercial Bank) sees as some of the main challenges for the country’s agricultural sector “the lack of security (titled land) to enable farmers to borrow and the lack of financing for Capex and working capital purposes.” Zanaco is the diamond sponsor for Agritech Expo and will provide a free talk on finance for emergent and small holder farmers at the event.Says Mr Dick: “in living our mandate of financially including the unbanked bankable people in rural and urban Zambia, we are committed to continuously invest in innovative but affordable products and services.