Image from the Department of Agriculture website
MANILA, Philippines — The Development Bank of the Philippines has partnered with the Department of Agriculture and a financial technology firm to pave the way for aspiring entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector to access financing.
In a statement on Thursday, DBP President and chief executive officer Emmanuel Herbosa said DBP would serve as a settlement bank to lending conduits of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council and PayMaya Philippines Inc. in the implementation of DA’s loan program for entrepreneurs.
“DBP takes pride in this partnership which opens a whole new spectrum of opportunities in boosting agricultural productivity, food security and self-sufficiency, and in eradicating poverty and hunger, especially in the countryside,” Herbosa said.
DA’s loan program, dubbed as Kapital Access for Young Agripreneurs (KAYA), is the department’s first digitized financing program to support the capital requirements of start-up or existing agri-based projects of young entrepreneurs.
The program targets entrepreneurs aged between 18 to 30 years old and offers interest-free loans of up to P500,000, which can be repaid in five years.
Herbosa said the partnership between the two agencies and a firm builds on the successful disbursement of funds to the farmer-members of NMI Agri-Coop and tobacco farmers in Isabela province, who have since transitioned to bonafide bank account holders.
“With this new initiative with DA and PayMaya, DBP hopes it can inspire a new breed of agripreneurs who are technologically-and-financially savvy, in order to ensure food security for future generations of Filipinos,” he said.