DAR holds meeting on Agricultural Production Credit Program

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Agrarian Reform in Western Mindanao conducted the Agricultural Production Credit Program (APCP) in Zamboanga City.

Maria Socorro Reambonanza, a spokeswoman for the DAR, said the meeting discussed the APCP accomplishment and the organization and formation of the APCP-Cacao Project Inspection and Monitoring Team, including the highlights of Kennemer Foods International (KFI) Cacao Contract Growing Procedures and the revisiting of functions and duties and responsibilities of partners – Department of Agriculture, Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and KFI.

Those who participated in the meeting were heads of LBP, DA, DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officers of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay, and key officials of DAR headed by regional director Engineer Felix Aguhob.

She said the APCP is a joint DAR-LBP credit and capacity development program designed to respond to the credit needs of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) on various economic projects such as agricultural crop production, agri-enterprise and livelihood projects.

For the current year, Western Mindanao region targeted 28 ARB organizations and 1,817 ARBs to be provided with credit under APCP in the amount of P 85.9 million, according to Reambonanza.

She said as of the first quarter of 2015, a total of P7.6 million was approved under the program benefiting four Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBO) and 184 ARBs.

“Considering the four remaining months to cover the balance under the program, there is a need to review the implementation of APCP among the concerned agencies and to discuss on the strategies to be undertaken,” she said. (Mindanao Examiner)

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