Zimbabwe’s Agribank to extend support to floriculture and horticulture targeting the European market

By Wallace Mawire [caption id="attachment_51909" align="alignleft" width="600"] Malaba[/caption] Agribank, Zimbabwe’s leading bank offering support to the agriculture sector has announced that it is increasing its support to the floriculture and horticulture sector to promote exports to the highly lucrative European market, according to SMT Malaba, Agribank CEO in a presentation of the bank’s financial statements for the year ended 30 June, 2018. According to Malabe, the bank has made significant milestones with respect to key strategic initiatives such as enhanced support to agriculture and capital raising initiatives. The banks is alo expanding support to agriculture and sustaining business growth initiatives optimising on the critical role of agriculture in the economy of the country. Support to agriculture is at the core of the bank’s mandate for food security and value addition. “The bank is expanding support to the agriculture sector and is likely to surpass its initial set target of $105 million and achieve $125 million agriculture financing, inclusive of both on and off balance sheet financing,” Malaba said. He added that to date total lending to agriculture amounted to $80 million. He said that finance is being extended to major subsectors of the agriculture sector such as tobacco, maize, soya, horticulture as well as critical fertilizers and chemical industries that support agriculture with inputs. Malaba described horticulture and floriculture as low hanging fruits for the country to boast its foreign exchange incomes. Previously the sector was dominated by white commercial farmers but declined due to the 2000 land reform programme. There was a major shift when the new communal farmers focused on other traditional crops like maize and cotton with a few focusing on the export crops. Malaba added that in a bid to raise foreign currency the bank managed to also support key sectors in agriculture like the floriculture and horticulture sectors. He said that the bank is exploring further expanded support in respect of horticulture crops such as macadamia nuts, mange peas, Michigan peas, avocados and cut flowers.