Mr John Anonpure, the Jema branch Manager of the Brong-Ahafo Catholic Cooperative Society for Development (BACCSOD) has advised farmers, especially women, to adopt the habit of savings to access credit facilities in the crop seasons.
He said the Jema BACSSOD targeted to provide all-inclusive financial services to farmers in rural communities, urging them to form and strengthen cooperative groups to easily access credit facilities from the Society.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Jema in Kintampo South District of Bono East Region, Mr Anonpure said “with little savings” women farmers could access credit facilities and to engage in commercial farming to improve their socio-economic livelihoods.
He said: “We understand that especially women farmers require support in the crop seasons, however until they save with us, we can’t support them because we will not have their records, nor can we access their bank history”.
Mr Anonpure said the Society had provided financial assistance to many farmers in the area, engaged in cashew and mango plantation as well as yam, maize farmers and vegetable farmers and urged them to make judicious use of the facilities they took.
He advised the farmers to desist from keeping money in their homes, urging them to be wary of emerging financial institutions, which promised to pay high interest rates in order not to be scammed.
Mr Anonpure said all small scale and medium enterprises and businesses that transacted businesses with the society qualified for credit facility, but priority was always given to those that had organised themselves into cooperative groups and associations.
The BACCSOD is a financial institution established by the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani to empower people financially and address socio-economic issues.