Moratorium on agriculture loan payments urged

MANILA, Philippines - To hasten the recovery process of the agriculture sector, a non-government organization is urging the government to undertake reforms such as declaring a moratorium on agriculture loan payments.

The group which calls itself Centro Saka is also proposing that the Centro Saka suggests that the government intervene and provide farming capital in the form of long-term loans or subsidies for at least until the next cropping season.

Centro Saka said this would entail a relaxation of borrowing requirements to enable the bulk of small farmers to access production loans such as the P4-billion Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF).

The NGO suggested that the bulk of the 2009 agricultural budget of P45 billion be geared towards food security, livelihood and sustainability programs for farmers and farmworkers.

Government should likewise allot funds for farm workers who were deprived of their sources of livelihoods, Centro Saka said, adding that the government needs to mobilize resources to hasten the repair and rehabilitation of existing irrigation facilities as well as invest in the construction of new irrigation facilities including small water impounding projects and shallow tube-wells.

The creation of an independent oversight body is also being proposed to oversee the disbursement of the funds and ensure that these benefit the intended beneficiaries.

In addition, Centro Saka said Government should adopt a community-based, tri-partite approach to ensure that the funds or subsidies would go directly to the small producers.

This means the involvement of NGOs and other civil society groups as well as rural women’s groups, small farmers, and the government in the implementation of the project.

At the very least, this approach ensures transparency, Centro Saka said.

A community-based, tri-partite mechanism could tap existing associations as conduits or delivery vehicles for production support funds, subsidies or loans. Such a mechanism would also remove the dependence of the farmers on the informal lenders or the traders for production capital. The group said this measure would address the short-term problems of the small farmers.