Farmers to Benefit From U.S. $12 Million MCA Credit Facility

FARMERS IN twenty-three Districts are to benefit from US $12.0m Agricultural Credit facility from Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) to help streamline the activities of the Government in poverty alleviation.

This followed the process after the Government of Ghana signed the Millennium Challenge Compact with the Government of the United States of America represented by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for a sum of US $ 547.000m.

The twenty-three districts, which were selected, are located in three intervention zones namely: the Northern Agricultural Area, Afram Basin Area and the Southern Horticultural Belt Area.

Briefing the Media in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Martin Eson-Benjamin said, "the credit facility will ensure agricultural transformation in training and assisting farmers to develop a business like orientation to farming, increase their output and incomes".

"In line with our disbursement requests to MCC for Quarter1 and Quarter 2, the total of $12.0m have been approved by MCC to be re-disbursed to fund projects in the first half of the compact year, ending on the 30th of September 2007", he noted.

The amount, which is part of the US $52m budget earmarked for the year ending 31st March 2008, would be disbursed through the Rural and Commercial Banks as well as Non-Banking Financial Institutions after signing an Implementing Entity Agreement (IEA) with the Bank of Ghana.

"This will allow the Bank of Ghana to initiate the necessary arrangements needed to enable the flow of credits through Participating Financial Institutions to farmers in all the twenty-three Districts", he stressed.

Mr. Eson-Benjamin further indicated that MCC has also approve the fast tracking of some social infrastructural Projects in selected Districts which involves the rehabilitation of thirty-five schools in seven districts spread across the three intervention zones expected to start from October and ends in December 2007.

He however said "Sensitization Activities had also started in Ewutu Effutu Senya District for eventual replication" in all the three zones as the first phase of the Land Facilitation Activity.

Responding to a question as to why the disbursement of funds was not directly to the recipients but through the financial institutions, the CEO said the Rural Banks are the mechanisms for disbursement of funds since they know the activities of the rural areas very well.

Responding also to a question asked by this paper on women farmers receiving little credit facilities from government, Mr. Matthew Arma, who is the Chief Operating Officer of MiDA said, "there is a programme in store for women" and they would address that as soon as possible.

As to how Ghana was selected, the Mr. Eson-Benjamin quickly said the country was selected because "it passed through the eligibility procedure".

"Let me remind you all that Ghana qualified for the share of the Millennium Challenge Account because there was free play of competition in the economy", he emphasized.

The CEO however told the gathering that Ghana's Compact was the most challenging to work with.

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