Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank to Double Agri-loans for Smallholders
Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank to Double Agri-loans for Smallholders
Myanmar Business Today, 31 Oct 2018
URL: https://www.mmbiztoday.com/articles/myanmar-agricultural-development-bank-double-agri-loans-smallholders
Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank will raise agricultural loans for non-paddy crops worth K100, 000 per acre.
In previous grants the department only provided up to K50, 000 per acre for non-paddy crops, but said for 2018-2019, it will provide double that amount.
Farmers can acquire the winter crop loans for 2018, which can be obtained starting from October 26 to the end of December by depositing their farming land certificate (form-7) as a collateral.
Farmers can obtain pre-rainy season loans for 2019, starting the beginning of January to the end of March. Farmers can then apply for post-rainy season loans starting March 2, 2019, to September 2019.
The loans focus on small-scale farmers. Famers who own less than 10 acres of land are eligible for the loans, which are provided at an 8 percent annual interest rate.
It is estimated that there are 500 million smallholder farms in the world, supporting almost 2 billion people. The majority of these farmers live “in absolute poverty,” making up “half of the world’s undernourished people.” In Myanmar, the agricultural sector holds 38 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and employs 60 percent of its work force. These small-scale farmers deserve any help they can get, and any existing Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) should allocate their time and ability to financing them.
For the development of Myanmar’s agricultural sector and rural area, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has announced that it will provide over ¥15 billion (K180 billion) in loans via state-run banks, according to an official Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank.
JICA along with Myanmar Treasury Department, Myanmar Economic Bank, and related government agencies has conducted a feasibility study for the loans in 2013 and 2014 and started providing the loans on July 23, 2017.
In previous grants the department only provided up to K50, 000 per acre for non-paddy crops, but said for 2018-2019, it will provide double that amount.
Farmers can acquire the winter crop loans for 2018, which can be obtained starting from October 26 to the end of December by depositing their farming land certificate (form-7) as a collateral.
Farmers can obtain pre-rainy season loans for 2019, starting the beginning of January to the end of March. Farmers can then apply for post-rainy season loans starting March 2, 2019, to September 2019.
The loans focus on small-scale farmers. Famers who own less than 10 acres of land are eligible for the loans, which are provided at an 8 percent annual interest rate.
It is estimated that there are 500 million smallholder farms in the world, supporting almost 2 billion people. The majority of these farmers live “in absolute poverty,” making up “half of the world’s undernourished people.” In Myanmar, the agricultural sector holds 38 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and employs 60 percent of its work force. These small-scale farmers deserve any help they can get, and any existing Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) should allocate their time and ability to financing them.
For the development of Myanmar’s agricultural sector and rural area, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has announced that it will provide over ¥15 billion (K180 billion) in loans via state-run banks, according to an official Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank.
JICA along with Myanmar Treasury Department, Myanmar Economic Bank, and related government agencies has conducted a feasibility study for the loans in 2013 and 2014 and started providing the loans on July 23, 2017.