Zimbabwe gets $478m in funding for agriculture
The southern African nation has since 2001 relied on imports and foreign donors to meet demand for the staple maize. Drought, lack of financing and President Robert Mugabe’s seizures of land from white farmers that hit commercial agriculture have been blamed for low grain production over the years.
The Herald newspaper reported that the government and local energy company Sakunda Holdings had signed an agreement that would see three banks provide the capital to mainly fund production of maize and soya.
Sakunda, which imports and distributes fuel, runs a logistics business and operates a 200 megawatt diesel power plant, will work with CBZ bank, Barclays and the local unit of Ecobank to provide the money.
Farmers would be required to sell their crop to the state grain agency as repayment. Nearly 70 percent of Zimbabwe’s population is rural and survives on agriculture.
source: cnbcafrica.com
