Zimbabwe Banks Agree to Help Fund Agricultural Production
- Government to guarantee loans granted to small-scale farmers
- Country in grips of severe drought that has halved food output
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Banks in Zimbabwe agreed to help finance small-scale farmers as the government seeks to bolster food production amid a crippling drought and an acute shortage of foreign currency to import many of the industry’s inputs.
Under the agreement, the government will provide guarantees for loans granted to farmers of grain and oil seeds, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Thursday. The lenders include Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd., the banking unit of CBZ Bank Ltd. and Stanbic Bank Ltd., and more are expected to follow, it said.