Create Enabling Environment For Large Scale Farming - Bank Manager

A call has gone to government to create an enabling environment for farming by devoting resources for the setting up of irrigation systems and an effective marketing system for agricultural products to attract private investment into large scale farming.The Manager for the Prempeh II Street branch of the Agricultural Development Bank, ADB, Mr. Andrew Akyampong said, most investors are interested in going into large scale farming but are compelled to shelve their intention because of problems such as lack of irrigation to boost farming.

He said, lack of marketing avenues for farm produce also serves as a demotivating factor. On the issue of the banks not willing to give out loans to encourage the youth to go into agriculture, Mr Akyampong said ADB as an agric bank has given support in the form of loans to farmers over the years but observed that most farmers do ! not use the money for the intended purpose. He said most of the loans given out to farmers had to be be written off because the beneficiaries were incapable of paying. Mr Akyampong urged farmers to change their attitude towards the acquisition of loans from banks.

He said they should see it as monies that should be paid back and not as grants. Mr. Andrew Akyampong was speaking in an interview with Kapital News in Kumasi.