'Rubber Farmers Pay Loans Promptly'

Rubber farmers have been commended for being the best in the repayment of loans contracted from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

J. Badu Williams, Tree Crops Officer at MoFA, in an interview with CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE, said his outfit provided loan support to rubber farmers who paid immediately after harvesting.

He explained that farmers acquired the loan during a 7-year period, adding that they had an additional 5 years to repay the loans.

Mr. Williams indicated that the farmers had a total of 12 years to repay the loans, stressing, “So far, farmers whose plantations had been supported with loan facilities pay their loans within 6 years with an interest of 25 percent.”

This, he noted, was mostly because there was a ready market for rubber. Rubber trees are mainly grown in the Western, Central and Eastern Regions.

It is processed by the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) and exported to France to be used in the manufacture of tyre by Michelin.

“A total of 2,650 farmers had been supported in the production of rubber,” he added.

By Esther Awuah