The Myanmar subsidiary of Delhi-based agri-logistics firm Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM) has received a loan of $3 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to expand warehousing services in the Southeast Asian country, a press statement said on Tuesday.

“In Myanmar, despite poor storage conditions, farmers are often forced to store harvested products to sell at a later time, leading to substantial losses—currently estimated at around 20 per cent. IFC’s investment will help the company bring sophisticated warehousing and allied services to Myanmar,” the statement issued by IFC said. The investment would make it possible for farmers to store higher volumes and reduce losses caused by infestation, excess humidity etc.

“We have replicated our best practices and expertise in agriculture warehousing domain in Myanmar. In the past five years, we have been able to reduce post-harvest losses to 0.5 per cent in the country, thus helping every player in the farm-to-market chain. We intend to utilise the capital to further scale up our operations,” said Sandeep Sabharwal, Group CEO, SLCM.

“Myanmar’s agricultural sector is a key pillar of the economy and provides employment to about 53 per cent of the labour force. Further, developing this sector is key to helping people move out of poverty.

A World Bank research has shown that progress in the agricultural sector was directly responsible for at least 46 per cent of the reduction in poverty between 2005 and 2015,” said Vikram Kumar, IFC Manager for Myanmar and Thailand.

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