Loans of up to Rs1m to benefit almost 350 farmers and 2,000 lives
\nKarachi
\nEngro Fertilizers, a major fertilizer company in Pakistan, and Bank Alfalah Limited, Pakistan\u2019s leading commercial bank, announced a strategic partnership aimed at empowering farmers across the country through enhanced lending facilities.
\nThis collaboration will extend financing of up to PKR 1 million to farmers registered through Engro Markaz outlets and UgAi \u2013 the first integrated agricultural e-commerce platform for Pakistan.
\nThe signing ceremony took place at Bank Alfalah\u2019s Head Office in Karachi and was attended by senior leadership from both the organizations, including Ali Rathore, CEO of Engro Fertilizers; Atif Bajwa, President and CEO of Bank Alfalah Limited; Atif Mohammad Ali, Vice President of Marketing at Engro Fertilizers; along with other senior executives.
\nThe pilot initiative will be launched with a total funding allocation of PKR 250 million (comprising both secured and unsecured components), offering average loan amounts of approximately PKR 0.6 million to 300\u2013350 farmers.
\nWith an estimated reach of up to 2,000 beneficiaries, the program marks a critical step in forging a direct value chain between the fertilizer provider, the financing institution, and the end-user farmer, ensuring resources flow efficiently from source to soil with a robust value-chain.
\nCurrently, the program will be accessible through four Engro Markaz locations across Pakistan: Sahiwal, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, and Muridke.
\nThe project is designed to enhance financial access for farmers, providing them with clean and collateral-based lending solutions tailored to their needs.
\nThese credit facilities offer subsidized interest rates up to 4.5% lower than the market rates, enabling farmers to purchase high-quality Engro fertilizer products, directly contributing to improved crop yields, and a significant increase in their overall income and livelihood.
\nThe collaboration also features for digitization of payments and implementation of a closed loop spending solution via P2M (Person-to-Merchant) transaction enablement.
\nAccording to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2023\u201324, credit facilitation played a major role in driving improved crop yields during FY2024, leading to a significant impact of agricultural financing on national food security and rural productivity. According to the World Bank, access to agricultural finance can make farming up to four times more effective in reducing poverty highlighting the transformative impact of inclusive credit systems on rural livelihoods.
\nAli Rathore, CEO of Engro Fertilizers, stated, \u201cAt Engro Fertilizers, we remain committed to supporting Pakistani farmers, who play a vital role in sustaining our country\u2019s economy. This collaboration with Bank Alfalah is a meaningful step toward improving farmers\u2019 access to financial resources, enabling them to invest in quality inputs, enhance productivity, and work toward a more secure future. We hope this initiative contributes to the broader goal of promoting sustainable agriculture and strengthening the resilience of farming communities\u201d.
\nAtif Bajwa, President and CEO of Bank Alfalah Limited, added, \u201cBank Alfalah is proud to partner with Engro Fertilizers in this important initiative. We recognize the potential of Pakistan\u2019s agricultural sector and the critical role that accessible financing plays in unlocking it. By offering tailored lending solutions, we are investing in the productivity, resilience, and financial empowerment of our farmers, contributing directly to food security and economic stability across the nation. This collaboration exemplifies our dedication to inclusive growth and supporting the backbone of Pakistan\u2019s economy.\u201d
\nThrough this partnership, Engro Fertilizers and Bank Alfalah Limited are committed to bridging the gap between financial institutions and the agricultural community. This collaborative effort has been designed to enable a more inclusive, robust, and productive rural economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Loans of up to Rs1m to benefit almost 350 farmers and 2,000 lives Karachi Engro Fertilizers, a major fertilizer company in Pakistan, and Bank Alfalah Limited, Pakistan\u2019s leading commercial bank, announced a strategic partnership aimed at empowering farmers across the country through enhanced lending facilities. This collaboration will extend financing of up to PKR 1 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":84294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84295,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84293\/revisions\/84295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}