Agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and the entire agriculture value chain will benefit from the P10 billion allocated by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) for the AgriSenso Lending Program, aimed at enhancing food security and sufficiency nationwide.

Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III said Tuesday that AgriSenso was developed in collaboration with several government agencies, including LandBank, the Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council and the National Irrigation Administration.

“All these agencies promote cluster farming managed by cooperatives and farmer associations,” Estrella said.

Under a whole-of-government approach, DAR, in coordination with these agencies, is fully committed to supporting ARBs who are members of various ARB organizations (ARBOs) across the country, he said.

LandBank executive vice president Alex Lorayes stated that the P10 billion fund is intended to provide affordable financing to ARBs and the entire agriculture value chain, with an interest rate of only 7 percent per annum.

“LandBank aims to have at least 5,000 AgriSenso borrowers, with an initial total amount of P500 million allocated under the new lending program,” Lorayes said.

He added that while applications for AgriSenso have been received since its launch in July, the exact number of borrowers has not yet been determined.