THE Ministry of Agriculture in Kasama District says it has received over 200 applications from farmers who want to access loans under the Sustainable Agriculture Financing Facility (SAFF).

Kasama District Agricultural Coordinator Francis Mutale says 43 farmers have since received the loans under the facility.

Mr Mutale said farmers have already started accessing loans through the National Savings and Credit Bank (NATSAVE) and Indo Zambia Bank.

Mr Mutale told ZANIS that the agricultural loan facility is being given at an interest rate of 12 percent with different repayment methods.

He explained that the Ministry of Agriculture expanded the issuance of loans to small-scale farmers, emerging farmers, and small and medium enterprises (SME’s) who are not beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Programme.

“The SAFF loans were open to civil servants, parastatals, businessmen and women as long as they are not beneficiaries under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) and the Food Security Pack (FSP),” he said. 

And Kasama District Marketing Development Officer James Miti has expressed gratitude to government for opening up the SAFF loans to civil servants. 

Mr Miti said the response is overwhelming and called on more banks to come on board to quicken the process.

He mentioned that SAFF loans are easy to apply for and banks are able to credit farmers accounts within 24 to 48 hours.

John Mulenga, a SAFF beneficiary who is also an officer under the department of Judiciary said the loan is an opportunity to improve his yield in the 2024-2025 farming season.