Photo grabbed from The Manila Times
The Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), allocated a P650 million credit fund under the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Assistance Program targeting more than 32,500 small farmers and fisherfolk affected by calamities.
Under the program, small farmers and fisherfolk may avail themselves of up to P20,000 interest-free loans with no collateral requirement and is payable up to 10 years. Only one borrower is allowed per household.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), allocated a P650 million credit fund under the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Assistance Program targeting more than 32,500 small farmers and fisherfolk affected by calamities.
The SURE Assistance Program aims to help agricultural and fishing households in disaster-stricken areas regain their capacity to earn a living.
The program focuses on areas declared as “Under State of Calamity” with considerable damage to agriculture and fisheries due to natural disasters.
Under the program small farmers and fisherfolk may avail themselves of up to P20,000 interest-free loans with no collateral requirement and is payable up to 10 years. Only one borrower is allowed per household.
The loan may be used to provide immediate relief from the effects of the calamity and for rehabilitating the farming or fishing activities of the affected small farm/fishing household including the purchase of production inputs, repair of farm/fishery assets, and acquisition of livestock/work animals.
Borrowers under the said program may also avail themselves a one-year moratorium on payment of their outstanding loan obligation from other DA-ACPC credit programs.
Eligible borrowers under the SURE Assistance Program will be identified and endorsed by the DA Regional Field Offices in coordination with their respective Municipal Agriculture Offices.
The DA-ACPC will tap its partner lending conduits (PLCs), including government banks, rural and cooperative banks, and cooperatives, to extend the loans to the borrowers. The PLCs shall evaluate, approve, release, and collect loans from borrowers under the agreed guidelines with DA-ACPC.
The SURE Assistance Program was developed in 2016 in response to natural disasters that occurred in the country that year which resulted in severe losses to agricultural production and contributed to the lethargic performance of the agriculture sector.
As of August 31, 2021, more than P591 million worth of loans under the program were delivered to 36,023 borrowers nationwide who were hit by various natural calamities.
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