Businessman Gassan Azan has taken banks to task for not walking the talk when it comes to financing ventures in agriculture.

Azan, who along with partners, ventured into the agriculture sector in 2019 with Jamagro Tech Farms, in Lakes Pen, St Catherine, outlined how difficult it has been to get money to borrow for the project.

“Not one dollar has been loaned to this project by the banks,” he told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last week. “We’ve had the hardest time and none of them would lend to this project. We tried every bank [and none would lend us], so we funded it ourselves.”

The funding so far amounts to US$7 million, which is the equivalent to 10 per cent of the total cost of the project he is spearheading to transform 400 acres of land in Lakes Pen into high-tech agri-farms.

“A businessman of my reputation in Jamaica cannot get a loan for agriculture,” he continued.

“So all the lip service that is being paid to agriculture, is nothing but lip service, because if you don’t put money behind it, it can’t go nowhere. But nobody is willing to put money behind it,” stated Azan. “I am standing by what I just said.”

Asked why the banks were unwilling to lend to agricultural projects, Azan quipped, “the banks look at agriculture as extremely high risk.”

Bank of Jamaica data support the anecdotal evidence proffered by Azan. The data show that up to the end of October, commercial banks total loans and advances to the agricultural sector were valued at $15.4 billion, but that was just 1.5 per cent of the total loan portfolio of of the banks. Only the entertainment sector and restaurants fared worse in terms of loans from commercial banks.

Audley Shaw, the minister of agriculture, reacting to Azan’s plight, told the Business Observer, “that is one of the challenges that the Government has to look at very carefully. I think that we have to come up with a programme to help farmers who are serious…we have to see if we can give them start-up subsidies, or funnel more funds through the Development Bank of Jamaica, or the Exim Bank. These [entities] will have to open their doors.”

For Azan, gaining success at the farm in Lakes Pen is critical to convincing other businessmen to get into agriculture or the banks to being more amenable to the sector.

“Eventually, what we hope you will start to see, is that when one businessman is successful in it, hopefully what you will find is other businesspeople will smell the money and decide to go into it.”

Pressed more on why banks were not willing to fund agri-projects, Azan sighed, “It’s a shocking thing,” before telling this reporter to turn off the recorder after which he went into greater details about his inability to get banks to fund a project he believes will be profitable in the long run.

The revelation of banks being unwilling to fund a high-profile project spearheaded by a reputable businessman was not lost on Azan who said he understands what small farmers go through to get loans. But he said, it means a different model to help small farmers will have to be devised.

“Now you ask about the small farmers. What I see in the Dominican Republic was that the big farmers engage small farmers who have land, and they put up the green houses for them. The small farmers manage it and the supply comes back to the main farm.” That model Azan says will be employed as Jamagro Tech Farms expands.

“We want to invest in greenhouses on the small farmers land and you become the marketing arm for them.”

“The small farmers are a big target for us. The small farmers grow and we guarantee the purchase from them and we have been doing that six months now. We need the small farmers, because we can’t grow everything ourselves. What we can do is bring them up to a certain standard. So what you will find is that produce on the retail shelves will be much improved, because of the technology and the consultancy we provide to them.”

So far, the entity has built out greenhouses, mesh houses, hydroponic houses and a nursery across 79 acres growing a range of products including lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, scallion, kales, celery, pak choi, sweet peppers, mint, basil, cilantro and parsley along with orchard crops including ackee, coconut, avocado, papaya, mango, and lime.

“We are already supplying other supermarkets in the local market and we expect that we would be supplying hotels by the middle of next year, and we hope that by the third quarter of next year that we will go into exports to the United States.”

“Remember also that we have our own supermarkets in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacoa, so we will likely be shipping down the islands as well,” he said.