The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched a series of training videos in national and regional languages to educate the farming communities across the country, especially in the underserved areas, about the agriculture-financing products and procedures, reports WealthPK. All agriculture lending banks have joined hands with the central bank and are disseminating these insightful videos through the relevant digital-platforms and social-media.

The stakeholders of Pakistan’s economy understand that lack of awareness about the agriculture-financing products and formal lending-services is a major challenge for banks, as it hinders outreach to the rural markets. The central bank is inspiring the financial sector for capacity-building besides launching various initiatives for awareness, promotion and development of agriculture-financing in the country. However, the farming communities at the grassroots level are still largely unaware and are not able to optimally utilize these secured and regulated financial services.

In order to broaden the scope of the SBP’s campaigns, the financial institutions are now being engaged to explore the potential of digital media, driven by the rapid penetration of internet and increased usage of smartphones across the country. Revolutionary technologies are thus creating many great opportunities for disseminating information. These innovative solutions have enabled precise penetration of the target segments, promising better results, timely outreach and cost-effectiveness than the conventional awareness sessions. The financial-literacy videos by the SBP also ensure easier comprehension and longer retention.

The first video in this series covers the overall agriculture-financing landscape of the country, SBP’s initiatives and government’s schemes – all from a farmer’s perspective. Keeping in view the need for enhancing accessibility of credit in the diverse underserved areas, this video has also been translated into Sindhi, Balochi and Pashto languages, three regional languages apart from Urdu. The next two videos in the series focus on crop and non-crop sectors, including information about agriculture-loan products and diving deeper into the procedures and documentation required for both segments.

It is expected that these videos will help the farmers overcome their reluctance in availing themselves of credit from banks. To achieve a broader outreach, the agricultural-lending banks will also develop similar informative videos on products and financing-opportunities to inform the agro-based businesses.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk