FSC members receive microfinance training

Fri Nov 21, 2014

Staff members of the Farmers Support Company (FSC) are currently undergoing training in microfinance and cooperative development, spearheaded by the St Vincent Cocoa Company.{{more}}

This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar, at a press briefing at the Ministry’s conference room on Wednesday, November 19.

Caesar expressed gratitude to the facilitator, Iven Ose, for conducting the training. The Minister said the main role of the training is to build the human resource base of the Farmers Support Company to ensure that it provides the most efficient service to the farmers of St Vincent and Grenadines.

According ro Caesar, farmers are very buoyant. He added that farmers who received loans from the company are back in the lands. He said he constantly speaks to the management and board of the FSC to ensure that the loans are disbursed in a timely manner.

Rural Finance and Cooperative Development expert Iven Ose congratulated the Minister on his approach and vision for agriculture in St Vincent and the Grenadines with respect to the FSC. Accordingly, Ose stated that he has visited the manager and staff of the FSC and he was very impressed with the analysis being done on the individual clients.

Referring to the training session, Ose said it would include some of the factors that contribute to microfinance sustainability. Ose emphasized that the biggest contribution that farmers can make is to repay the loans, so that the revolving funds remain intact. This, said Ose, is the biggest single factor to sustain a microfinance institution.

Manager of the FSC Sharlene Garrick expressed gratitude to the St Vincent Cocoa Company for spearheading the training sessions.

Garrick said the training is necessary for the staff, as they are dealing with microfinance and farmers. She noted that the staff will be more versed to deal with farmers and to ensure smooth operations within the FSC. According to Garrick, the FSC staff will also receive training in loan recovery. Garrick added that Ose and the FSC staff will meet with farmers in several communities as part of the training sessions.(API)