The Status of Agricultural and Rural Financial Services in Southern Africa Zambia Country Report

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1 The Status of Agricultural and Rural Financial Services in Southern Africa Zambia Country Report Lemmy Manje, Melanie Newman Wilkinson Taj Pomodzi Hotel Friday, 13 th December 2013 Making financial markets work for the poor

2 Background to and objectives of the study Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and disablers Conclusions & recommendations Adopted a structured of the market to better understand environment, support frameworks, market players, and opportunities for growth Understand the context, and progress to-date in financial sector development; highlight developments up until December 2012 Explore the nature, extent and causes of problems and challenges that are hindering sector growth, and realization of sector development goals Identify enabling and disabling factors in both supply and demand Draw out the implications for growth, and provide practical recommendations for strengthening sector support A practical point of reference for understanding the financial sector landscape

3 Presentation navigation Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and Disablers Conclusions and Recommendations Demand side Supply side Status Positive developments Inclusion status and prospects Factors which are hindering inclusion, and which can influence inclusion What can be done?

Enterprise/Household Needs, knowledge, access, consumption

4 Focus of the Financial sector development framework Key players in the market: formal and informal Enterprise/Household Needs, knowledge, access, consumption Types and status of policy and regulatory reforms Key sub sector representative institutions

5 Presentation navigation Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and disablers Conclusions and recommendations

6 Demand side Household needs Enterprise needs Nature and source of income Seasonality of income Household money management practices Needs Infrastructure Products and services Affordability Appropriateness Distance Access Implications on policy and market development Benefits Value proposition Costs Perceptions Knowledge

What we found on the demand side Income Farming is the main

Income is erratic and prone to agricultural risks such as

flow follows a typical seasonality map Occasionally (18%) Jan

7 What we found on the demand side Income Farming is the main source of income 52 percent of households rely entirely on farming only 6.9 percent earn wages from public service or private companies Income is erratic and prone to agricultural risks such as pests, drought and floods For majority of households, cash flow follows a typical seasonality map Occasionally (18%) Jan Dec Highest around the middle of year (July-Sept) Lowest during the farming season Only specific months (seasonally (72%)

8 What we found on the demand side Needs Consumption Production Emergency TRANSACTIONS (Money Transfers, Remittances, Payments) function Savings Credit Household investment Asset accumulation Smoothing cash flow Credit Insurance Risk management Farming investments & up-scaling Credit Insurance Savings Risk management Smoothing cash flow

9 What we found on the demand side Knowledge Concepts Basic understanding of how credit and savings work Poor understanding of how insurance works Products Community financing : merry-go-round savings, VSLAs Contract farming and outgrower schemes No or poor exposure to insurance Perceptions Negative perceptions on formal savings: cost and access factors Negative perceptions on formal credit: product appropriateness (costs and requirements) Misconceptions of formal insurance: no exposure Practices In-kind savings more common Poor credit culture Informal risk management mechanisms

10 What we found on the demand side Access Financial access strands for Zambian adults, Finscope 2009

11 What we found on the demand side Access Breakdown of the Zambian access strand, different income-generating activities, Finscope 2009

12 What we found on the supply-side Credit Compared with GDP, credit levels are low compared to neighbouring countries (Zambia -12.3%, Tanzania -17.8%, Botswana -24.3%, and Malawi -19.8%) Only a handful of financial service suppliers are actively engaged in rural and agricultural finance Credit flows are highly unevenly distributed across the sector, with the bulk of finance going to commercial level agriculture There is a lack of appropriate products and services, particularly at the lower end of the market Lack of information on overall market potential in most agricultural sub-sectors Despite growth in market-led finance models very few are working at scale

13 What we found on the supply-side Savings Only a handful are deposit-taking developmental credit providers; and less again are actively reaching out to low-income rural communities MFIs have been very slow to initiate deposit-taking services in rural areas Savings for low income individuals,including Youth, are reaching urban populations only and are not being marketed in rural areas Little or no support to develop retail capacity across the industry, and to expand reach to rural communities Traditionally, MFIs have required savings as a precondition for accessing credit, a mandatory condition for urban and rural borrowers, including smallholder farmers Mobilization of cash has to provide tangible benefits and helps drive growth and improve household economic security

14 What we found on the supply-side Insurance There are no insurance schemes developed specifically for rural households The only recent initiative is a ZSIC Life pilot in Southern province for a family life plan with funeral cover Knowledge, exposure and experience is consequently very low in rural areas Opportunitiesto deliver insurance to rural areas lie in leveraging farmer groups, agribusinesses, and outgrowerschemes as distribution channels Unsurprisingly, the insurance culture in Zambia isvery weak and therefore requires consumer education tied to marketing and product availability

15 What we found on the supply-side Transactions Remittances to and from rural areas are mainly done through city-city buses and transfer services such as the POST Office s money transfer service, Swift Cash Mobile transactions are increasingly being used for transfer services. However, liquidity problems particularly for rural based agents seems to be one of the major challenges

16 Presentation navigation Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and disablers Conclusions and recommendations

17 Positive developments Policy and regulation Development of Rural Finance Policy and Strategy NOW APPROVED BOZ practice note on KYC requirements for rural banking Amendments to the Banking and Financial Services Act (branchless banking, e-money, payment systems) Amendments to the Agricultural Act (warehouse receipting, commodity trading) Amendments to the Insurance Act, with specific provision for microinsurance Development of legislation for the finance leasing sector Support Extension of the Financial Sector Development Plan through 2014 Decision to establish a rural finance unit within the MoFNP Commencement of DFID s Access to Finance programme in early 2013 Design of a new Government / IFAD rural finance programme (starting 2014) Roll out of national strategy on financial education Roll out of the microinsurance development strategy Plans to develop a Unified Collateral Agency Supply Emerging group of commercial banks assuming a role as rural enterprise development bankers and financers Success in developing products and delivery channels directly targeted at agri-processors, emergent and smallholder farmers Four out of five lead MFIs licensed for deposit-taking Networking and deepening of community-based savings and credit providers

18 Presentation navigation Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and disablers Conclusions and recommendations

19 Financial inclusion Knowledge Skills Confidence Financial Education Financial Inclusion Initiatives Consumer Protection Effective use Sustainable inclusion Parallel Complementary initiatives Innovative Market-driven Policy and Regulation Human Resource and Systems Capacity Supply Appropriate financial services Market linkages Retail infrastructure Technology solutions Technical Know-How Production and Market Linkages Infrastructure and Support Pro-poor growth

20 Presentation navigation Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and disablers Conclusions and recommendations

21 Supply-side: credit delivery innovations Growing proliferation of market-led financing models Emergent and smallholder finance Outgrower and contract farming arrangements See uptake in the commercial farming, trading and processing sectors Players monitor and manage exposure according to sector performance and risk appetite Enabling factors Transparent pricing Use of lead firms as aggregators Timely access to inputs Degree of control over the production process Finance combined with technical production support and even farm operation support Business management capacities are a critical contextual factor Product and delivery channels are developed and launched in collaboration with multiple partners Collective approach to intervention modelling - test first, then refine, increasingly demand-driven A facilitator in the background to bring together private sector players, propose approaches and time-bound incentives

22 Supply-side: credit delivery innovations Growing proliferation of market-led financing models Lease financing supportsbusiness expansion of the contractor / farmer, income smoothing, business know-how Warehouse receipting inventory and commodity trade financing against warehouse receipts and certificates Enabling factors Several pilot initiatives involveleading machinery supply firms, leasing firms, commercial banks, emergent and smallholder farmers Emphasis is on farmers as contractors;income revenue streams from contracting out the farm equipment pays off the lease Risk reduction mechanisms include: partial credit guarantee, and a strong technical support component for robust business modelling Lead commercial banks working with farmers, traders and millers

23 Supply-side: savings innovations Community-based finance Enabling factors Growing numbers of community-led savings and credit groups Members as decisionmakers, using credit for household and enterprise needs A strong focus on women Nascent network of partners providing technical know-how Consolidating learning across the network and groups Organic bottom-up growth of different models, not one size fits all

24 Supply side: innovations in design and distribution of insurance Insurance for rural households and farmers Growinginterest of insurers in microinsurance Enabling factors Network of farmer groups and contract farming mechanisms New entrants in brokerage and product development Willingness of agribusinesses to use insurance as loyalty incentives Interests from mobile network operators in insurance distribution

25 Supply enablers Policy and regulation Micro Meso Macro Transition of lead MFIs to deposit-taking institutions Improved regulationand supervision Support Supporting development of payment infrastructure Supply Leveraging mobile technologyfor payments and transfers Leveraging farmers groups for distributing insurance Improving frameworks for contractfarming and outgrower schemes Application ofinnovation in product design Appropriate and supportive regulationfor payments

26 Supply disablers Policy and regulation Support Micro Meso Macro Weak client service delivery model Low levels of public sector expenditure on the agricultural sector Government interference and subsidies Current tax implications Lack of proactive sector support Supply Poor condition of storage facilities and lack of availability of facilities Lack of collateral, including land title Lack of human resource expertise Limited market information

27 Demand enablers Policy and regulation Micro Meso Macro Policy framework for financial education Support Demand Participation of rural households in productive agricultural sectors Presence of productive farmer clusters and groupings High mobile phone usage and acceptability Appropriate financial education programmes for farmers and rural households

28 Demand disablers Policy and regulation Micro Meso Macro Absence of coherent rural finance policies Support Poor financial service infrastructure Demand Insufficient collateral and lack of credit history High levels of financial illiteracy Nature and level of income Lack of consumer protection mechanisms

29 Presentation navigation Market Market developments Financial inclusion Enablers and disablers Conclusions and recommendations

30 Recommendations Sector strengthening Support to the sector must be demand-driven and effectively packaged to promote and significantly contribute to industry strengthening Incorporation of a research and development component within one or more national level programmes Introduce and support a framework for sector-wide knowledge management Short-term strategies for strengthening the sector should involve industry representative institutions; Support should focus on building capacity to identify market needs, strengthening business models and capabilities for supporting their membership Representative organisations need to equip themselves with the tools, resources and management capacities to effectively respond to membership needs Build industry level capabilities, extending to leadership and management at branch level, and to relationship managers and credit officers who are on the frontline of portfolio growth and management Over the long term, there is a need to build the pool of available expertise for commercial banks, MFIs and community-based financing partners, and to integrate curricula and learning into primary, secondary, and tertiary educational institutions. It remains the role of policy makers to determine which institutions are best positioned to do this

31 Recommendations Expansion, growth and inclusion A need to sharpen focus and quantify market development opportunities Increase flow of market information and feasibility studies on growth opportunities in specific agricultural market segments Increased investment in research and development, piloting and testing, and support for scale-up of successful pilots Increased emphasis on tailored support, business and finance models that propel growth in rural agriculture and enhance financial management skills of rural households, leading to economic strengthening at different economic levels Increase focus and support to grow informal community-based financial services Leverage recent developments in the use of mobile phone and other technologies and further engaging technology service providers to develop cost effective solutions to financial access and inclusion challenges Encourage and support the design and roll-out of risk reduction mechanisms and time-bound smart subsidies that are market-led and incentivize private sector engagement and innovation

32 Thank you Making financial markets work for the poor

Microinsurance Technical Advisory Group. MICROINSURANCE LANDSCAPE - ZAMBIA MICROINSURANCE FOCUS NOTE No. 9 JUNE Funded by

Microinsurance Technical Advisory Group FOCUS NOTE No. 9 JUNE 2018 Funded by ABOUT THIS FOCUS NOTE Since 2009, the Technical Advisory Group for Microinsurance (TAG) has been spearheading the development