Economía works on a broad program that includes a line of financing adapted to the needs of the sector.

The Ministry of Economy of the province of Mendoza is working on the development of a comprehensive support program that will include, among other points, a line of financing adapted to the needs expressed by organic producers in the province. The Undersecretariat of Agriculture and Livestock summoned Igor Baratoff, delegate by Mendoza of the Argentine Movement for Organic Production (MAPO) in order to know what the needs of the sector are.

The meeting was also attended by Valentina Navarro Canafoglia, director of Agriculture of the province, Hernán Norando, General Manager of Mendoza Fiduciaria, Silvina Giordano, head of the Fund for Transformation and Growth, and authorities of the ProMendoza Foundation.

Baratoff explained that among the sector’s credit needs are “the purchase of inputs, raw materials, seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, machinery for processing and infrastructure. We have producers who have been working under this modality for a long time and need to make investments that allow them to increase their production possibilities. This requires access to a line that exceeds the usual amounts of financing ”.

“Today if you want to make an expansion, we have to think of no less than 6 or 7 million pesos for a warehouse of 70 square meters or 2 million pesos to buy a fractionator. It is no longer enough to access a financing line of 500 thousand pesos ”, the MAPO delegate in Mendoza highlighted in this regard.

Producer shortage

For her part, Silvina Giordano remarked that “Clearly there is not a demand problem here, we should analyze the financing from back to front. First, I observe two problems with the offer. One of them has to do with the shortage of producers in Mendoza and the other great difficulty lies in those who are already working under this modality and who wish to expand ”.

“It is a very particular situation because this is a sector that needs specific support in order to access financing. There, the contribution of entities such as MAPO or IDR is surely required to complete the documentation that is required not only in the administrative part but also in the technical part. We must work on a comprehensive program that considers several points at the same time ”, highlighted the executive director of the FTyC.

In this sense, Navarro Canafoglia, remarked: “At this point Silvina refers to, the IDR, which is the body that has the possibility and capacity to reach the entire territory, is the one indicated to carry out this work of accompany and guide the producers in the assembly of the portfolio and other processes that allow the producers to access this financing program ”.

Financing

Norando added: “It is necessary to study very well what are the possibilities that are available from Mendoza Fiduciaria for the sector. We have to see to elaborate a project that is feasible and that does not exclude producers who wish to join this mode of production. Always subject to the financing possibilities that our institution currently has ”.

“Today the interest rate that the Fund has for micro companies is 20% per year and for medium-sized companies it is approximately 23 percentage points. Clearly, it is a low rate in relation to the figures that are handled in banks ”, said Giordano when referring to the interest rates that can be managed before the possibility of launching a financing line adapted to the sector.

Once the meeting concluded, the authorities agreed to evaluate the different possibilities available from both credit institutions based on the needs expressed from MAPO and the possibility of SGRs participation as collateral.

In addition, Navarro Canafoglia advanced the possibility of advancing in the signing of an inter-institutional agreement that allows carrying out a joint work that not only implies providing the possibility of financing but also a joint accompaniment to producers in the sector by Agriculture, IDR and ProMendoza.

What is MAPO

The Argentine Movement for Organic Production is a non-governmental organization and is considered the most important in the field at the national level. It has more than 20 years of experience bringing together all entities, people, companies or NGOs that are related in some way to organic production, establishing contacts and agreements with related organizations in Argentina, and represents the sector in public and private institutions, National and international.

In turn, the representative institution of the sector carries out research and training tasks for its associates. These are producers, certifiers, researchers, scientists, technicians, educators, entrepreneurs, organic marketers and even the consumers themselves. Source Government of Mendoza

Source: Viapais