Agri modernization plan gets P1-B fund

MANILA, Philippines - The Agro-Industry Modernization Credit and Financing Program (AMCFP), the umbrella financing program of the government for small farmers and fisherfolk, will receive a funding of P1 billion for 2013, according to the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC).

The additional budget for the AMCFP can provide financing to 97,676 new small farmers and fisherfolk who currently have no access to sources of formal credit.

The AMCFP is designed to be a responsive and sustainable credit program for small farmers, fisherfolk , and those engaged in agriculture-related small and medium enterprises.

Under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997 (Republic Act 8345), the AMCFP should be given a funding of P2 billion on the first year and P1.7 billion for the next six years. However, it will not be until now that a budget has been appropriated for the program. In previous years, the AMCFP was funded solely through the collection and consolidation of funds from terminated agricultural directed credit programs.

The ACPC, which is mandated to oversee the implementation of the AMCFP, plans to utilize the P1 billion  funding for the program for the benefit particularly of farmers who are engaged in cultivating the  priority commodities of the DA such rice, white corn and cassava—food staple that are part of the Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP).

Other priority commodities are yellow corn, coconut, high value crops, livestock, poultry and fishery products.

The provision of formal credit and financing is one of the FSSP’s key strategies to attain food sufficiency and increase farmers’ incomes.

Increased access to credit from formal sources is one of the DA’s and ACPC’s commitments in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) for 2011-2016.

The target is to increase the incidence of formal borrowing among small farmers and fisherfolk from 52 percent  in 2007 to 61 percent  by the year 2016.

ACPC estimates that P109 billion will be needed to address the credit demand of the agriculture and fishery sectors in 2013.

The programs currently being implemented under the AMCFP are the Cooperative Banks Agri-Lending Program (CBAP), Agri-Microfinance Program (AMP), Cooperatives Agri-Lending Program (CALP), and the DA Sikat Saka Program.