Togo’s National Credit Council discusses agricultural financing

Agriculture

Monday, 04 July 2022 17:39

Togo’s National Credit Council discusses agricultural financing

(Togo First) - At the last quarterly meeting of the National Credit Council (CNC) held on July 1, Sani Yaya, the Togolese minister of economy, brought back agricultural financing to the table.

"At our previous meeting, I suggested the organization of a national workshop to reflect on the financing of the agricultural and housing sectors. But, to be more pragmatic and efficient, I asked instead to put the issue of agricultural financing on the agenda of this session. We will examine the issue of housing finance at the next meeting of the Council," he said at the meeting, which brought together the banking and finance actors of Togo.

The goal was especially to identify "the constraints to which the actors of the agricultural value chain are exposed; the requirements of banks and decentralized financial systems to further increase the financing of agriculture.” The idea was also to see how to strengthen and accelerate the effectiveness of the Risk-Sharing Agricultural Finance Incentive Facility (RFAIFF), and to identify "a set of measures to address financing issues in the agricultural sector."

These reflections involved stakeholders from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development; the Regional Office of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); the MIFA; and the Togolese Coordination of Farmers' Organizations and Agricultural Producers (CTOP).

Ultimately, the government and its partners will have to “identify a set of measures to further increase funding for the agricultural sector.”

In Togo, the agricultural sector, although representing about 40% of the national GDP, benefits from only 0.2% of total bank financing.

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