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International conference on livestock value chain finance and access to credit - English

International conference on livestock value chain finance and access to credit

Topic : Saving and Credit, Value Chain Finance

Improving the livelihoods of livestock smallholders and other value chain actors through livestock value addition and marketing is constrained by the lack of access to finance, working capital, affordable quality inputs and well-structured value chains. Unlike other agricultural subsectors such as crops, fruits and vegetables, the financing of livestock activities for smallholder, especially fattening andfinishing activities, through financial institutions or value chain actors is very scarce. Livestock smallholders usually cannot provide collateral, such as land title deeds or physcial assets, to obtain loans from financial institution, and vale chain finance in this sector is not well developed. However, there are a few examples from developing countries in Africa, Asia and Central and South America where financial products and mechanisms have been developed to help smallholder livestock producers to access working capital and to add value to their product.

This conference forms part of one of the outputs/deliverables of the “Innovative beef value chain development schemes in Southern Africa” project. The project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in collaboration with the Swaziland Water and Agriculture Development Enterprise (SWADE) with the support of Micro-Finance Unit (MFU) Swaziland. The conference is also part of the research on value chains under the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM). In addition to the mentioned project partners, Nedbank was the financial institution chosen to be part of the project and provide loans to the mini-feedlots farmers.