Tanzania: Lack of Rural Banks Dogs Tobacco Growers

(AllAfrica.com) FARMERS in Lupa area, Chunya District in Mbeya Region fail to save sustainably due to lack of banks and are forced to keep money at home, it was recently said here.
Lupa is a remote part of Mbeya Region that is surrounded by thick evergreen forests blanketing a vast area, where people mostly depend on cultivation of tobacco as their main cash crop.
"We need to promote a saving culture that goes hand in hand with promotion of rural banking ", said Richard Andrew Sinamtwa, the Tanzania Tobacco Leaf Company's (TTLC) Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, when donating building materials to residents of the area for construction of a dormitory for Kipalala secondary.
... He said farmers were forced to travel from Lupa to Chunya, some 100-km to get banking services, adding that customers of CRDB Bank have to go to Mbeya (175-km) for the services. Continued