Equity Group Holdings and farm equipment manufacturer John Deere have entered an agreement that seeks to finance the acquisition of quality farm equipment for farmers in Kenya.
The two-year deal is targeting farmer groups, full-time contractors, part-time contractors, large-scale farmers and small-scale farmers in the country to aid in boosting revenues linked to yields.
Moreover, the deal seeks to reduce the losses that farmers incur by lowering the operational costs that are related to agriculture production.
The agreement underpins the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed lender economic transformation vision of mechanizing agriculture in the continent.
“Through this collaboration between Equity Group and John Deere, a world-renowned agriculture, turf and construction equipment maker, small-scale farmers, builders and landscape providers in Kenya will benefit from state-of-the-art technology which will equip them with the capability to scale and grow their yields and businesses for larger markets,” said Equity Group Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James Mwangi.
“Kenyan farmers have the opportunity with the implementation of the Africa Free Continental Trade Area Agreement to increase production for global supply chains which were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he added.
Read: Konza Technopolis Appoints Insider As CEO
The tier-one lender will provide finance products to customers initially in Kenya whereas the equipment dealer MASCOR who has dealerships throughout East Africa will be the partner dealership.
Equity, John Deere and MASCOR will conduct joint training and marketing campaigns to educate farmers in the country on the usage of the equipment to enhance agriculture productivity.
Moreover, the partners also target to help the farmers understand the value of mechanization in yield improvements.
“In John Deere, we have a significant partner of like-minded interest to support scaling and mechanization for small-scale farmers in Kenya. This partnership aligns with the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan, which seeks to foster a more coordinated, connected and capacitated primary supply chains to drive higher productivity,” added Equity Group MD.