Coffee Farmers To Receive Low-Interest Loans After Ruto’s Boards And Management Restrictions
On Thursday, June 13, President William Ruto announced new debt and loan measures for coffee cooperatives.
During the 9th Annual Dairy Farmers Field Day Celebrations in Meru County, Ruto announced an affordable loan fund of Ksh6 billion for coffee farmers.
The loans will be offered at a 3.6% interest rate. At the same time, he prohibited coffee cooperative management boards from taking loans without farmer participation.
Ruto claimed that many cooperatives had taken loans without informing the farmers.
Our investments in agriculture is significantly enhancing the productivity of key food and cash crops. We will continuously increase our support for farmers and broaden markets for their products, ensuring they earn higher incomes in order to improve livelihoods.
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) June 13, 2024
Attended the… pic.twitter.com/l6F4pegatz
According to the Head of State, farmers are usually the most affected by debt.
As a result, he stated that loans would be approved at the Annual General Meeting, which will be attended by farmers.
At the meetings, Ruto stated that the farmers should be informed about the loan and the justifications for it.
“Going forward, no debt will be taken by the management or by the board until it is approved at the general meeting so that farmers can know how much is being taken and what is going to be used for,” he stated.
Ruto made the remarks after announcing that the government would clear the coffee cooperatives’ Ksh6 billion debt.
On the other hand, he encouraged farmers to take advantage of the low-interest loans rather than seeking expensive loans from other lenders.
“We now have Ksh6 billion in government funding available to coffee farmers. It will be given a 3% interest rate.
“Do you want to borrow the debt at 26 percent or take the government rate at Ksh3 percent?” he posed.
Coffee Farmers To Receive Low-Interest Loans After Ruto’s Boards And Management Restrictions
