Companies and individuals dealing in seed multiplication have decried the reluctance by banks to offer them loans to get more quality seeds to boost agriculture productivity.

The farmers were speaking during a two-day Agri-finance and seed fair organised by Agro ProFocus Network and the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) and other partners in Musanze District.

The fair, which was concluded on Thursday, last week, aimed at stimulating access to finance while promoting the seed value chain in the country.

Representatives of seed companies said that while they were committed to boosting quality and quantity of agro-produce, they still lacked financial means and banks do not facilitate them to access loans like other businesses.

"This is an opportunity for us to meet financial institutions; however, although we have started working with banks, we still find some challenges. It takes more than four months to access loans and in some cases you fail to get it,” said Isaac Nzabarinda, the president of Irish potato seed cooperatives in Musanze.

"We need more bankers to support agri-business, the process of acquiring loans is too arduous and we are asked for documents we don’t have. We want to be entrepreneurs but some banks do not value farmers.”

Nzabarinda added that in some cases, whenever banks offer loans, farmers are required to pay before the harvest, which they find difficult.

"We need banks that understand us and wait until the harvest period to claim their money,” he said.

The farmers also pointed out that the fact that insurance companies neglect the agriculture sector hampers its development as banks consider agriculture as risky and are reluctant to offer loans.

Esperance Mukarugwiza, the coordinator of Agri ProFocus, said that the fair was an opportunity to link farmers to financial institutions and discuss how they can build partnership.

Mukarugwiza said since they started organising such fairs three years ago, some financial institutions had started supporting farmers and there was hope that more banks would come on board in the near future.

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