Farmers replace property developers as biggest loan defaulters in Covid-19 era Summary About 23.67 percent of outstanding Sh109 billion loans advanced to the sector were not being serviced as of the end of March compared to 16.03 percent a year earlier, making it the sector with the highest non-performing loans (NPL) ratio. Agriculture’s NPL ratio marginally zoomed past building and construction (23.52 percent) and trade (19.14 percent) sectors, latest Central Bank of Kenya industry statistics shows. Analysts attribute the elevated defaults on loan repayments in agriculture to depressed demand from sectors such as hospitality, which was hardest hit by the restrictions and shutdowns imposed to stem the spread of the pandemic.