Tunisia’s Agriculture minister to provide $9m financing to farmers

Tunisia’s Agriculture ministry announced Wednesday August 16 several financing plans for small farmers to the tune of $9 million in view of supporting the sector.
The financing will come from State-run Banque Tunisienne de Solidarité (BTS), as result of the agreement with the agriculture department, “Tunisie Numerique” reports.
The bank per the deal will provide 3,000 seasonal loans worth $5 million to farmers in the cereal sector.
The financial institution will also loan $2 million to date producers and will establish a $646,204 fund to be used to finance 100 startups working on innovation in the agriculture sector.
In addition, BTS, according to the agreement, will also provide a fund worth $1.6 million to be used for equipment acquisition and access to power based on renewable energy. Both partners also agreed to create a joint mechanism in view of providing support for companies active in the solidarity and social economy in the agricultural sector, and simplifying procedures to benefit from these new measures, in particular access to financial incentives.