To show commitment, the bank has set up Agribusiness Desk primarily to address financial concerns of farmers. The bank has also invested over US$57 million into the maize and soya value chain from 2014 to 2017.

The Head of Agribusiness at Barclays Bank Ghana, Mr Andrew Ahiaku, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS after a media dialogue on Wednesday, September 13 in Accra, that the bank had dedicated 11 per cent of its entire loan portfolio to finance agriculture.

He stated that the bank has develope agricultural policy and a strategy aimed at supporting agribusiness in a quest to encourage growth in the sector.

“For us at Barclays Bank Ghana, we see and treat agribusiness as the business of agricultural production,” he said and added that financing of the sector must be approached from the value chain perspective.

Agribusiness is the business of agricultural production, which focuses on agrochemicals, breeding, crop production (farming and contract farming), distribution, farm machinery, processing and seed supply, as well as marketing and retail sales .

Supporting the sector

Touching on projects undertaken by Barclays Bank, Mr Ahiaku noted that the bank had already embarked on several projects such as supporting Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) in their sorghum project in the northern part of the country.

“Beyond this, the bank has also supported the biggest poultry farmer in the country (Akate Farms) with about GH¢4 million in 2016,” he said.

“Though government wants banks to dedicate 10 per cent for agricultural financing,” he said and added that Barclays Bank had taken a step further to do 11 per cent.

Mitigate risks associated with agricultural financing

Mr Ahiaku called on the government to help mitigate risks associated with the agricultural sector in order to encourage banks to support the sector.

“If the government was able to support the sector such that there was a strong market to sell produce then the only thing banks or farmers will think about was production risk which could be addressed by agricultural insurance,” he added.

So far, he said: “What Barclays Bank is doing is to partner with other stakeholders to mitigate the risks associated with agricultural financing in the country.”

Mr Ahiaku was speaking ahead of this year’s National Food and Agric Show (FAGRO), which is slated for Tamale from September 26 to September 30, 2017.

Some of the activities lined up for this year’s event include a leadership summit for women in agriculture, an agricultural colleges dialogue, a seminar on how to structure strong farmers cooperatives, a business plan writing boot-camp for agribusiness players and a forum to discuss the government one- district, one- factory (1D1F) agenda.