The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) said reforms instituted by the Land Bank of the Philippines which eased credit access for small farmers can help the sector survive the pandemic.
Danilo Fausto, PCAFI president, said Landbank’s easier credit access enabled agriculture lending to hit P236.31 billion in 2019 compared to only P183.4 million in 2017 due to the simplification of loan application to one document from three documents that are now easier to be filled out through tick boxes.
The bank has also cut requirements and shortened processing time of loan applications.
Fausto said other banks should follow Landbank’s suit and comply with the Agri-Agra law that mandates banks to allocate 15 percent of loan portfolio to agriculture and 10 percent for agrarian reform-related projects.
He said the pandemic may impact 4.1 million people in rural communities.
