ACPC grants assistance to credit cooperatives

Under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed recently by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) and the National Federation of Credit Cooperatives (NATCCO), the former is set to grant P673,000 (69 percent) and the latter will share P289,500 as its equity (31 percent) to a savings and lending technology program.

The total amount of P962,500 will be used to establish a pool of trainers whose task is to disseminate a savings and lending technology to some 1,000 members of NATCCO. Program components include the writing of the training modules, designing of conferences, training of trainers and installation of systems with selected cooperatives.

ACPC executive director Jovita Corpuz said that with the improved operations of cooperatives, the benefits will eventually trickle down to the members in terms of improved member services, speedier loan processing, higher patronage refund and wider member outreach.

The savings and lending technology has been pilot-tested for two years by two regional networks of NATCCO, the apex of a nationwide network of cooperatives and is the largest federation of cooperatives across the country. Over a thousand primary cooperatives comprise its core, 75 percent of which are based in the countryside.

ACPC is attached to the Department of Agriculture with a mandate to improve credit access to small farmers and fisherfolk.