By Brenda Kayo:
National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef) has disclosed that it is facing challenges to supply agricultural equipment to farmers due to delayed loan repayment by beneficiaries.
Neef Chief Executive Officer Humphrey Mdyetseni said the organisation has only disbursed K12 billion in loans out of the expected K120 billion primarily because people are not repaying loans on time.
He further said the organisation had delivered 10,000 bags of fertiliser to the Southern Region, with another 10,000 bags expected to be distributed from Tuesday to Wednesday which is costing K20 billion from the K150 billion expected.
“Delayed repayments have resulted in a shortage of funds, with K16 billion still owed by borrowers. This has affected the supply of agricultural equipment, which is essential for farmers in the country,” Mdyetseni said.
However, he indicated that the Central and Northern regions were still waiting for their allocation of fertiliser, which is being purchased from the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi at a cost of K108, 000 per bag.
He said the distribution of fertiliser in the Central and Northern regions was expected to commence next week.
Senior Chief Chadza said many people were struggling to repay loans due to hunger and economic challenges they were facing.
“We all know how people have been affected by hunger and the economic situation. People prefer to buy food than to repay loans but we will make sure that people repay debt to avoid further delays in the supply of agricultural equipment,” Chadza said.
Neef is expected to reach out to 400,000 farmers who are left out from this year’s Affordable Inputs programme.
Farmers are expected to get four bags of fertiliser, which is expected to be paid for after their harvest at K108,000 per bag.
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