DAVAO CITY – Some 29,000 farmers in the Davao Region availed of some PHP1.2 billion financial assistance from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) as of September this year, an official said Wednesday.
Jose Enedicto Faune, vice president of LBP Davao Lending Center, said the fund assistance was coursed through the 119 cooperatives around the region.
"We assist the farmers through cooperatives and other related organizations," Faune said during a virtual press conference.
Faune said one of the beneficiaries was the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Association in Davao del Sur that received PHP10 million on October 2.
The assistance, he said, was intended as working capital and for the cooperative to buy the products of their farmer-members instead of selling their produce to outside traders.
Periodic evaluation will be conducted on the association, he said, adding that the loan may be increased depending on its needs and demand.
"But we are encouraging also more cooperatives of other types of agri-production to venture with us," Faune said, adding that the bank's total loan portfolio for the agri-base sector is worth PHP26 billion.
Faune said their biggest loan exposure in agriculture is on poultry and feed milling, followed by banana and other crops.
"The farmers really want to pay their loans and we attribute this to our program on financial literacy where we educate and let them understand," Faune said. (PNA)
