FARMERS SAVE OVER E0.7M

MBABANE - Eswatini National Agricultural Union’s resolution to assist farmers prepare for the new farming season is bearing fruits.

In April this year, the union launched an input savings programme which is aimed at assisting farmers to save their money in preparation for the ploughing season.  Union President Boy Matse said over 330 members registered for the programme and saved over E723 000.  “These farmers will be linked to the government input subsidy programme. A memorandum of understanding between the union and National Maize Corporation (NMC) has been signed to formalise this collaboration.

Conference

Meanwhile, this past week the union had its two-day annual policy conference and annual general meeting (AGM) at the Happy Valley Hotel in Ezulwini. It is a second time for the union to hold this event under the prevailing situation of COVID-19. The annual policy conference and AGM is the main calendar event because it gives the union a platform to engage with policymakers and stakeholders to discuss critical issues that affect farmers and the agriculture sector at large. Matse called upon all stakeholders in the sector to work together, merge their activities and resources in order to widen the impact of their interventions. “Furthermore, it is of paramount importance to consult farmers before carrying out any intervention that aims at supporting them.

During the conference it was highlighted that farming enterprises, like other businesses, were greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Many farming enterprises incurred losses due to the pandemic which disturbed supply chains, increased the cost of production and changed consumption patterns and consumer preferences. “Food supply systems were threatened everywhere in the world including Eswatini. The pandemic reminded us as a country that our reliance on imports for food puts us at great risk. Therefore, we need to intensify our efforts of increasing local production and marketing of agriculture commodities,” said Matse.

Stressed

Matse further stressed on the importance of supporting smallholder farmers to better access finance. Access to finance is one of the leading bottlenecks for local farmers, especially for the youth and women. Majority of farmers are struggling to access finance because of many reasons among which is inability to provide collateral or security. Furthermore, farmers cannot use their pieces of land as security when applying for loans. “I would like to implore government to consider establishing a fund against which farmers will secure business loans from local financiers. I also implore government to consider passing the 2016 SNL Commercialisation Bill,” he said. Meanwhile, Executive Director Lwazi Mamba said they were still working on the outcome/report of the conference.

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