The Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) will this year establish a Micro Credit Revolving Loan Scheme to support farmers. Individual applicants may qualify for loans ranging from a minimum of USD 72 to a maximum of 363, while groups could get between USD 145 and USD 727. Disbursements under the loan programme are due to begin in March.
The scheme will be seeded with USD 14,500 earned from the proceeds of the Denbigh Agricultural Show, which is the largest annual agricultural and industrial show in the entire English-speaking Caribbean with over 40,000 patrons.
The funds will be made available only to members of JAS and its chain of youth groups, the Jamaica 4-H Clubs. JAS was founded in the nineteenth century to stimulate interest in all categories of farming on the island and to ensure the protection and promotion of farmers’ interests. The Jamaica 4-H Clubs is a leading youth movement on the island, with over 63,000 members. The club now hosts a number of development programmes including Environmental Challenge, School Garden Programmes and Solid Waste Management among others.
President of both JAS and Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Senator Norman Grant, said in his launch announcement that farmers must present JAS with income-generating projects that can create opportunities within their communities to benefit from the scheme, as well as provide products to display at this year’s Denbigh Show.
According to the Inter-American Development Bank report in 2006 entitled, ‘Microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean: How Large Is the Market?’ Jamaica currently has only three microfinance institutions, with a collective portfolio of USD 4 million and 10,401 borrowers, who have an average loan of USD 376 each.
Amy Rennison, MicroCapital writer
Additional Sources:
Radio Jamaica:
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/4264/52/
Microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean: How Large Is the Market?
http://search.iadb.org/search.asp?querymode=basic&QueryText=microfinance&language=english
MixMarket:
http://www.mixmarket.org/en/environment/environment.show.profile.asp?token=&CountryID=jm
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