The Department of Agriculture (DA) has made available an additional P1.44 billion worth of loans for farmers, fisherfolk, and agri-entrepreneurs under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) credit program.
In a statement, Agriculture William Dar said: “The fresh fund augments the previous P4.495 billion the DA has cumulatively entrusted to Landbank, being the administrator of the ACEF lending program.”
“To date it has a total portfolio of close to P6 billion that farmers, fishers, and agripreneurs can borrow under the ACEF,” he said.
Dar also said he had requested the Department of Budget Management (DBM) to release to the DA another P2.1 billion in ACEF money for credit.
Landbank President and CEO Cecilia Borromeo said that out of the P4.495-billion ACEF fund, the bank had approved P3.675 billion worth of projects, while P796 million worth of projects were being processed.
About P2.5 billion worth of ACEF loans have been released to fund projects of beneficiary farmers, fisherfolk, farm credit administrators and micro and small-scale enterprises, she said.
Farmers in northern and central Luzon have benefited from ACEF loans amounting to P1.4 billion, while Mindanao got P923 million worth, South Luzon, P704 million and the Visayas, P639 million.
The ACEF loans will allow beneficiaries to acquire production, post-harvest, and processing equipment and facilities, as well as farm inputs. Jojo Mangahis