Gov’t to lend out P1.33B under agrarian credit program

MANILA, Philippines - The government hopes to loan out this year P1.336 billion under the Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP), a five-year credit and capacity development program for agrarian reform beneficiaries, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said yesterday.

The APCP is a joint micro finance program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines.

The APCP created to finance the production and enterprise projects of agrarian reform beneficiaries who are not yet eligible for financing under Land Bank’s regular lending programs or other formal means of obtaining credit.

The APCP received initial funding of P1 billion when it was launched in 2012 and was allotted additional funding of another  P1 billion in 2013.

Aside from credit for agricultural production, APCP provides capacity building assistance for agrarian reform beneficiaries and organizations to support individual or communal production and enterprise projects.

The program management committee of the credit facility is chaired by Agriculture assistant secretary for field operations Edilberto de Luna and is composed of executive officers of the implementing agencies.

The DA said this year’s loan target would finance the credit requirements of 35, 431 agrarian reform beneficiaries through 543 beneficiary organizations.

To meet this year’s loan target, the management committee resolves to implement operational strategies that include closer coordination between the designated point persons of the implementing agencies, conduct of workshops with agrarian reform beneficiary groups on loan documentation, and assisting beneficiaries in identifying new agribusiness projects.

Loans availed under the facility are intended to be released within two to three days.

Since the program was implemented in 2012, P257.43 million in loans had been released as of February 28, 2014.

The released amount benefitted 4,668 agrarian reform beneficiaries in the provinces of Agusan Del Sur, Albay, Aurora, Bukidnon, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Isabela, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, North Cotabato, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Sarangani Province, Sorsogon, and Sultan Kudarat.