Many farmers were forced to borrow from moneylenders to pay for their seeds.

moneylenders 是由 money（钱）和 lender（出借人）组成的复合名词。money 指"金钱"，lender 来自动词 lend（借出）加后缀 -er 表示"执行该动作的人"。moneylender 合起来指"放债人"，即专门从事放贷业务的人。