Lack of titles ‘hinders’ farmers from loans

By LEONARD KORIR

Narok,Kenya:Sugarcane farmers in Trans Mara region want to be allowed to use other forms of security for loans instead of title deeds that most lack.

Farmers said title deeds that are a prerequisite for borrowing loans was a big hindrance as most of the land in the area was still under adjudication and they were yet to obtain individual ownership documents.

The farmers now want that land lease agreements and contracts made between them and the millers be treated as a formal document which can be used to borrow loan.

“We are suggesting that the corporation should work closely with the Ministry of Lands,” said a farmer Charles ole Saiyua.

Speaking when Agricultural Finance Corporation MD Lucas Meso met farmers in the area, they also complained that the corporation was levying them 15 per cent interest on sugarcane loans instead of five per cent. Meso told farmers the corporation has streamlined the processing of loans by removing unnecessary conditions.