Agriculture-fishery stakeholders get access to affordable funding

MANILA, Philippines — More agri-fishery stakeholders are expected to benefit from affordable financial services and programs after the amendments to the agri-agra law lapsed into law last month, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The department welcomed Republic Act (RA) 11901 or The Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development Financing Enhancement Act of 2022 as it would boost the productivity and competitiveness of the agriculture and fisheries sector by enhancing the accessibility of affordable financial services and programs, expanding its coverage, and giving more flexibility to financing institutions.

The law requires banks to design and offer financial products and services that suit their agricultural clients’ specific requirements.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has committed to efficiently implement RA 11901 considering the needs of the rural community beneficiaries and how the law would aid in the recovery of the sector.

The DA, through Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), currently offers credit programs with flexible loan terms as it recognizes the importance of providing affordable and accessible financial services to small farmers, fisherfolk, and micro- and small-scale enterprises to raise their competitiveness, productivity and sustainability.

The agency serves 439 unbanked municipalities or 90 percent of all unbanked municipalities in the country.

ACPC has disbursed P24.09 billion worth of loans to 408,834 small farmer- and fisherfolk-borrowers in partnership with financial institutions between 2019 and 2022.

The loans were disbursed through the 16 credit programs and facilities of ACPC.