"I have been supplying milk to Nestlé for the past two years. I wanted to purchase more dairy animals to expand my production capacity. One day, I received an SMS from Nestlé’s Kisan (farmer) Club SMS Service informing me about a digital lending program. I placed my request for a loan by making a phone call to the bank and received the loan amount of PKR 300,000 within two days in my mobile wallet. I found the process hassle-free and convenient in comparison to availing a loan through conventional banking", says 26 year old Naveed who found the dairy business sustainable and profitable due to the support Nestlé Pakistan has provided to him.
Committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 8- Decent work and economic growth, and as part of leveraging digitization to benefit its dairy value chain, Nestlé Pakistan joined hands with Telenor Microfinance Bank to facilitate its dairy farmer base through the provision of digital micro-finance lending.
Under this program, Nestlé has been facilitating the provision of loans to dairy farmers digitally who have been supplying milk to Nestlé. The loans are disbursed directly to the farmers via Telenor Bank’s Easypaisa mobile wallets.
More than PKR 30 million collateral free loans to more than 150 farmers have been disbursed to dairy farmers supplying milk to Nestlé Pakistan.
This form of lending has paved the way for easy and affordable access to finance for dairy farmers in rural areas where there was limited outreach of financial services, and also supports farmers in improving their financial sustainability. Digital lending has replaced conventional procedures and instead uses digital credit score card and analytics, thus considerably reducing the loan approval turnaround time. This also minimizes the tedious paperwork associated in obtaining loans and ensures that the farmers get access to funds in a safe and convenient manner.
Nestlé Pakistan also conducts farmer trainings through community as well as Nestlé training farms in Sarsabz and Sukeki. Farmer training support has had a direct impact on farm operations including animal nutrition, health breeding and overall livestock management. As many as 38,000 farmers have been trained by Nestlé through training farms and village meetings in 2017.
"From keeping the farm clean to ensuring the well-being of cattle, I keep on learning best farm practices from Nestlé’s Kisan Club SMS Service, which will go a long way in improving the milk production", adds Naveed.
Nestlé believes in creating shared value for society through its support to skills-based training programs, socio-economic empowerment of the rural farming communities, gender mainstreaming and employment opportunities for rural youth.