Africa-Press – Tanzania. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has asked the Private Agricultural Sector Support (PASS Trust) to ensure that its services are spread throughout the country to benefit agricultural entrepreneurs.
Speaking in Dodoma during the national launch of the grape cultivation campaign, Majaliwa said PASS Trust has played an important role as a catalyst towards accessing agricultural financing by farmers cultivating strategic crops in the country.
“I have moved all over the country, gone to Kigoma for the palm oil campaign, gone to Tanga for the sisal campaign and I met farmers who had been supported by PASS Trust to access mechanization. You are doing a great job PASS Trust,” said the PM.
Majaliwa said there was a need for the trust which provides credit guarantees to farmers of between 20-60 per cent, to open branches across the country to enable many farmers to access their services.
Majaliwa asked PASS Trust to ensure that a strategic office is opened in Dodoma to serve farmers in the region as well as other neighbouring regions.
“This is now a strategic crop alongside other eight crops and we need your support to boost its production,” added the Prime Minister.
PASS Trust acting Managing Director Ms Anna Shanalingigwa said PASS will work to ensure that its services are accessed by all agribusiness entrepreneurs in need.
“We have so far guaranteed grape farmers within Dodoma region with credit financing of up to 2bn/- with our partner banks. Another credit guarantee of 3.5bn/- targeting 400 grape farmers is in the pipeline,” she said.
She said the Trust has since inception benefited a total of 1.7million beneficiaries through its credit guarantee scheme which has also created over 2.5 million jobs and increased agricultural production.
“We are happy that we are helping entrepreneurs who would have otherwise not been able to access funds to boost agricultural production. We are ready to support grape farming in this region and all other regions that are favourable to produce this crop” Added Ms Shanalingigwa.
Speaking at the same platform, Agriculture assistant Minister Hussein Bashe said his office was in talks with PASS Trust to have the trust open mechanization hubs in all the regions in the country where farmers can acquire agricultural equipment through leasing for a particular period.
“We want farmers who cannot afford to buy and own equipment to be able to lease equipment for several days and use them in their farms. This will make their work easy” Said Bashe,
Bashe was responding to Ms Shanalingigwa’s statement that PASS Trust was also operating the PASS Leasing Company that aims at providing loans for agricultural equipment without collateral.
“Through the PASS Leasing Company which started its operations early this year, we have made it possible for farmers to acquire agricultural machinery without any collateral. We link farmers with suppliers of various equipment for ease of access,” she said.
