The recent amendments to the Compact Credit Facility that aims to facilitate the farmers’ access to funding for investments in the post-harvest infrastructure and high-value agriculture enable the agricultural producers to expand their investments in the agri-industrial sector, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the program.

According to the new provisions, entrepreneurs may apply for loans for construction or procurement of greenhouses for vegetables, procurement of equipment and/or associated land and new irrigation equipment and weather stations. The investments in new plantations of fruits, berries, grape or nurseries of fruit trees, table grape and berries have also become eligible for the Compact loans.

On the other hand, the minimum loan amount has been cut from US$20 000 to US$ 5 000, while the maximum amount has remained US$600 000 and the loan term is from 3 to 7 years.

The loans are meant for agricultural producers and businesses operating in the agri-food sector, such as peasant farms, individual farmers, micro, small and medium companies producing, processing or selling agricultural products, farmers’ associations, business cooperatives, partnerships etc.

The US$12 million Compact Credit Facility was launched in the autumn of 2011. It has disbursed 26 loans so far amounting to more than US$4.7 million, 21 of which amounting to about US$3.7 million (77.6%) having been made for construction, rehabilitation or upgrading of cold storage rooms for fruits/vegetables with a total capacity of about18,700 tonnes.