By Munene Maina
More farmers in co-operatives are set to benefit from agriculture loans that will improve their income.
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has extended its partnership with societies in the country to support more farmers.
Recently, WOCCU Chairman Brian McCrory and President Brian Branch visited Siraji Sacco in Timau for a partnership aimed at promoting agriculture.
“They were happy with our services in supporting farmers in their activities,” said Franklin Mwirigi, Siraji Sacco Chairman.
WOCCU aims to improve small rural producers’ income through integrated access to financial services and agricultural markets.
The goal of its co-operative development programme is to create a set of agricultural finance tools that will guide credit unions worldwide in serving rural populations.
Financial institutions are hesitant to engage the agricultural sector due to the high-perceived risks.
To address this challenge, WOCCU is working with local co-operative societies and farmers to strengthen the full ecosystem for agricultural finance.
“We work with individual small-scale farmers to grow their businesses, as well as with more advanced commercial enterprises looking to grow into export markets,” he said.
At the institutional level, our programmes help risk-averse financial institutions to develop viable products and services for the agricultural sector. At the SME-level, we work across the value chain with input and service providers, transporters and others,” said WOCCU chairman.
Siraji Sacco has also partnered with KUSCCO, Bayer, Syngenta, and Sereni Fries in assisting farmers reap much from their efforts.
