No Windfall For Cattle Lost To Drought
Oageng Batenegi | Monday July 4, 2016 16:15
Answering a question from Kgosi Moalosi of Tonota region, Tshireletso explained that government is only able to support dry land crop farmers who are affected by drought.
This is possible through the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS), added Tshireletso. Kgosi Moalosi had asked if the ministry of Finance would consider compensating farmers who had received financial assistance through banks such as National Development Bank (NDB) for purchase of cattle, but lost some of them due to drought but still expected to pay back their loans.
Only farmers who accessed loans from either NDB or Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) benefit from the ACGS scheme following the declaration of drought by the President.
The ACGS scheme is meant to assist the particular farmers in reducing their debt obligations in case of crop failure, said Tshireletso.
This is in case of drought, floods, frost or hailstorm, the assistant minister added. Tshireletso said the arrangement is such that government pays up to 85% of their loan installment within that crop year provided the farmers would have paid the premium of 5% of the loan installment towards the scheme.