Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT) has been facilitating access to finance by providing concessional financing to SACCOS and microfinance institutions for on-lending to smallholder farmers.
Rebeca Amukhoye, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) MESPT said their work has been mainly to ensure that smallholder farmers are able to access credit to invest in agriculture. "We do this by ensuring that SACCOs are able to develop appropriate financing products for the different agricultural value chains, ensuring that they have the ability to provide financial literacy for the smallholder farmers," she said.
Amukhoye, who was speaking to KNA on the sidelines of the ongoing Financing Agri-food Systems Sustainability Summit (FINAs), said they have also been working directly with the farmers to make sure that they are able to increase productivity per unit area, increase incomes that come out of the sale of their commodities, facilitate access to markets, and ensure that they have access to a ready market for their produce. "We are integrating smallholder farmers into Agri-SMEs, exporters, aggregators and even processors, while at off take level, we catalyze the same group to access working capital that enables them to buy and pay for produce from smallholder farmers," she explained Amukhoye, who explained about funding resilient food systems, said that MESPT's entry point in supporting youth entrepreneurs is making sure that their idea makes economic sense and that they are able to make money from the business. "We help them structure their business, we support them to appreciate and understand the importance of regulation and ensure that they are able to comply with the basic regulation within the country, but also ensure that their products are certified and that they meet the minimum thresholds of food safety so that they can be able to drive commodities to the market", she said The CEO noted that it is only through structuring their businesses, ensuring good record keeping, and good financial management that the youth can be able to access financing.
Once their business is able to thrive, Amukhoye said it then becomes easier for them to access debt financing either from SACCOs, MFIs, or even from banks.
