presentation by Dr Esther Muiruri (Agribusiness General)

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PARTNERING WITH FARMERS
THROUGH MICRO FINANCING
AGRICULTURE
ESTHER MUIRURI - EQUITY BANK
FARA CONFERENCE
ACCRA - GHANA
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EQUITY BANK
Our purpose
 We exist to transform the lives and livelihoods of our people socially and
economically by availing to them modern, inclusive financial services .
Our Vision
To be the champion of the social-economic prosperity of the people of Africa
Our mission
We offer inclusive,customer focused financial services that socially and
economically empower our clients and other stakeholders

3. EQUITY BANK’s CASE FOR AGRICULTURE
 Equity Bank strives to support agriculture through inclusive financial
intermediation to transform agriculture from subsistence to
commercially sustainable enterprises that have capacity to create
employment, wealth, foreign exchange and enhance food security.
 The Bank approached agriculture through partnerships with like
minded players within the agricultural value chains
 With special focus to the smallholder farmers the bank seeks to
understand the needs of the farmers and develop products and
services that meet those needs.
 The Bank further develops policies and processes that can address
the specific requirements for the smallholder farmers
 Over the years Equity Bank has gained substantial experience largely
from learning from the dynamics of dealing with smallholder farmers
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4. Why partnership with farmers ?
 Constitutes a Large “underserved” market –the Base Of
the Pyramid (BOP)
 To promote economic empowerment by redistribution of
wealth through access to financial resources
 Enabling micro enterprises (farmers, processors,
transporters etc) to contribute to the economy and be part
of the financial system
 A Social responsibility to avail financial services to the
lower segment majority of our rural community
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5. Benefits of partnerships
 Allow partners to specialize in their areas of
strength
 Reduce the operational costs of smallholder
producers
 Spread risks among partners
 Achieve economies of scale
 Allow growth and expansion
 Ensure cash flow for the producers and
processors/buyers
 Generate opportunities for other BDS players
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6. Challenges and mitigation
Largely dependant
on rainfall
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7. Challenges and mitigation
Lack of collateral
to access credit:
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8. Challenges and mitigation cont…..
Smallholder farmers are
spread over large
geographical areas
Develop cost effective
mechanism through technology
to reach out to the farmers such
as mobile banking , agency
banking
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Our experience in partnering
with smallholder
Have established many strategic partnerships to support
farmers through financial intermediation such as :-
 Tea Farmers through KTDA
 Dairy sector with procesors like NKCC and Brookside
Dairies
 Livestock through KMC and NGOs
 Partnerships with horticultural exporting companies
 Partnerships with Seed, Agrochemical and fertilizer
companies
 Partnerships with many local Parastatals and other
Development Agencies like WFP, FAO, WB, GIZ, IFAD,
AGRA 9

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EXAMPLE –KILIMO BIASHARA
PARTNERSHIP
 Is product developed through Partnership between
Equity Bank, AGRA and IFAD through Ministry of
Agriculture . Also supported by World Bank through
GOK funding from EU Under risk sharing facility.
Objective:
 To increase food security and household income for
farmers
 To support commercialization of agricultural activities
among Kenyan farmers
 Has reached over 60,000 farmers and agro dealers
with over ksh3.5 Billion (appx. over $41m) in loans.
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11. Kilimo biashara partnerships
Seed Companies
Agro
traders,millers,WF
P EAML
Using grain
handlers to promote
warehouse receipt
Farmers financed
to produce
Stockist/ Dealers
outlets Equity
bank,MOA
and other
Developme
nt Partners.
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12. Harvesting fresh produce for export
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13. Supportive infrastructure
 0ver 150 licensed country-wide branch
network supported by over 550 Visa
branded ATM’s, 4500 Points of Sale (POS),
and over 5,000 agents network
 EAZZY 24/7 service – allows customers to
access banking services on their mobile
phone.
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14. Capacity building on farmers
 Financial Literacy is a service offered by
Equity Group Foundation to support
farmers to develop better financial
management skills
 Relationships managed by qualified
extension staff in Equity Bank branches
across the country
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15. Our products
 Farmer friendly remittance account that
encourage farmers to save with no ledger
fees –accessible through EAZZY 24/7 and
Agency network
 Loans at affordable interest rate
administered using group and individual
lending methodologies
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Support required
 Awareness creation of existing opportunities
 Entrepreneurial Capacity building through
collaboration with partners
 Access to credit to farmers and value chain players
 Access to markets and competitive prices- to
support sustainable commercialization
 Use of technology to drive the business
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(insert the SMS
banking poster)

18. THANK YOU
Email: info@equitybank.co.ke
Web site: www.equitybank.co.ke
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