New Holland Agriculture partnered with EFTA (Equity for Tanzania) for the acquisition of 200 tractors to assist the mechanization of smallholder farmers. A ground-breaking collaboration between the brand and the leasing company regulated by the Bank of Tanzania, with the mission of financing equipment without collateral for farmers that cannot access bank financing.
The operation led to the delivery of 200 TT75 4WD tractors, to help supporting the country’s 2025 vision for mechanization, increase agricultural production and improve food security.
The transaction has been facilitated thanks to Hughes Agriculture Tanzania Ltd (HAT), New Holland Agriculture’s local distributor in Tanzania, and CRDB, one of Tanzania’s leading banks. HAT and EFTA have been working in partnership for over five years, but this is the first time a broader partnership, including New Holland Agriculture and CRDB, has been formed to significantly scale up tractor access by smallholder farmers.
It is expected to be the beginning of an ongoing partnership to grow mechanization in East Africa, including in Kenya.
After the delivery of the machines, an official training program for farmers has been launched at the end of February and will continue until the end of April 2023 across several districts of Tanzania, to provide the farmers with the technical support they need to raise the bar on productivity and profitability.
Özkan Eren, New Holland Business Director, Middle East and Africa, stated “New Holland has built a strong presence in Tanzania and constantly providing crucial product improvement feedbacks. This plays a key role to enhance New Holland’s commitment to continue innovating and adapting to market demands. Through this partnership, our common objective is to provide the best possible products like TT75 tractor model and services to increase the mechanization level of smallholder farmers in Tanzania and we are also committed to train the farmers and provide technical support they need to raise the bar on their productivity and profitability together with EFTA. It is certain that we will continue to invest in Tanzania in support of our local partners”
Stuart Leishman, Managing Director of HAT, commented “Mechanization is key to ensure the long-term goal of Tanzania becoming food secure, and we are proud to be able to play our part in increasing the number of emerging farmers using tractors and implements to improve their yields. Thanks to our valued partnership with EFTA, New Holland Agriculture and the support of CRDB, we have created a solution where farmers can acquire New Holland tractors from EFTA, at affordable rates. This can be done without the various collateral hurdles that might have otherwise prevented them from accessing this equipment previously. Hughes Agriculture will provide after sales support via their expanding network across the region to ensure that our customers receive the services, they need to keep their investment running.”
Nicomed Bohay, Managing Director of EFTA, commented: “We have done a deal of 200 new tractors with one of the respected top brands in the world for farmers and SMEs in Tanzanian agricultural sector. This is to reaffirm EFTA’s commitment, [in collaboration with our business partners, CRDB Bank, Hughes Agriculture and New Holland Agriculture]; to provide access to finance without collateral to farmers who wouldn’t have met eligibility criteria from mainstream financial institutions, a special segment of SME’s usually referred to as the “missing middle”, who are too big for microfinance but too small for conventional banks. The delivery of this transaction, and many more to come, confirms EFTA’s position as a leading financial leasing company in Tanzania.”
