Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) aims to grow agricultural loans by at least 10 percent this year through its partnership with Agrilever.

“It’s a relatively new project, but for this year, it is something we want to expand,” BPI head of Institutional Banking Luis Cruz said.

“The growth level we’re working on is based on what we had last year,” he added.

Agrilever is a mobile app that provides farmers weather forecasts, analyses on soil health and water conditions, and pests alerts. The app also links farmers to merchants and matches the volumes of harvests from the farmers to the demands of the merchants.

To further grow their agricultural businesses through loans, Agrilever endorses profitable farmers to BPI.

BPI Direct BanKo, the microfinance arm of the Ayala-owned bank, announced its partnership with Agrilever in June last year.

30-K borrowers eyed

BPI Direct BanKo president Rodolfo Mabiasen projected up to 30,000 farmer-borrowers in the near to medium term.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), loans distributed by banks to agricultural workers accounted for only 8 percent of the total loans in the first half of 2024.

The BSP requires banks to allocate 25 percent of their total loanable funds to farmers and fishermen to ensure meaningful aid to them.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the poverty rate among farmers was the second highest at 30 percent in 2021, after the fisherfolks’ 30.6 percent.

Consolidated data from BPI showed its gross loans grew by 13.2 percent to P2.3 trillion in the first quarter this year compared to the same period in 2024.