PREMIUM More farmers turn to friends and relatives for loans Appetite for loans from banks and other lenders to buy farm inputs has fallen, a fresh CBK survey shows. Business Just now Listen

According to the CBK survey, the proportion of farmers borrowing from friends and relatives remained at the highest level of 38 per cent in July, followed by commercial banks (21 per cent), buyers of farmer produce such as coffee and milk (19 per cent), saccos (17 per cent), and the Hustler Fund (five per cent).

According to the survey, the proportion of farmers who borrowed from digital lenders such as M-Pesa, KCB M-Pesa and Fuliza stood at 16 per cent in July, informal credit and savings groups (16 per cent), informal money lenders (nine per cent), co-operative societies (nine per cent), Agriculture Finance Corporation (five per cent) and Hustler Fund (five per cent).

The survey, however, shows that the proportion of farmers borrowing from friends and relatives declined from 45 per cent in May to 38 per cent in July, while that borrowing from banks fell from 32 per cent to 21 per cent in the same period.