PASIG CITY– The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), through its Socio Economics Research Division (SERD), conducted a consultation meeting with the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) recently.
The meeting was meant to level off the expectations of both agencies on the program titled “An Evaluation of the Impact of ACPC Agricultural Microfinance Program for the Small Farmers and Fisherfolk and their Households.”
The impact assessment team, led by Dr. Albert P. Aquino, SERD Director, presented the objectives, expected outputs, research methodology, and key activities that will be undertaken in the evaluation study to the ACPC officers and staff led by its Executive Director Jovita M. Corpuz.
Also discussed during the meeting were matters pertaining to the operation of the Agricultural Microfinance Program (AMP) which would aid in the formulation of steps towards the completion of the study. Conceptual and methodological concerns have been raised and addressed at the end of the consultation meeting.
AMP is a joint program of the ACPC-DA with the People’s Credit and Finance Council (PCFC) and is part of the government’s Agro-industry Modernization Credit and Financing Program (AMCFP), an umbrella credit program created especially to cater to the needs of the agricultural sector.
The program aims to improve the access to credit of marginalized farmers and fisherfolk and their households in order to improve their productivity and income, and thus improve their welfare and reduce poverty.
The ACPC-funded impact assessment study aims to evaluate if the microfinance program was successful in fulfilling its objectives of improving the lives of their target beneficiaries. The PhP 3.85M impact evaluation program will be conducted for nine (9) months.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed earlier between PCAARRD and ACPC to establish research collaboration between the two agencies.
An agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Agriculture (DA), respectively, PCAARRD and ACPC, pursue a common interest toward the development of agriculture and fisheries through research and institution building. The impact evaluation program of the AMP is the first collaborative activity between the two agencies.