Happy Farmers – Rural Banks Of The Philippines, The Challenge Is Not Inclusive Lending But Inclusive Development!

The good news is, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines, RBAP, is in its 7th decade of existence, and it just celebrated its 62nd Charter Anniversary at the Manila Hotel on 07 November 2019, with Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie as guest speaker. Manong Willie notes that the total loan portfolio for rural & cooperative banks for agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the first half of the year is P26 billion. 

The bad news is, Manong Willie says, "This amount represents just a small fraction of what the total credit requirement of our small farmers and fisherfolk in unserved or unbanked areas." That total credit requirement is P76 billion.

Is it that, in the matter of inclusive development,
the rural bankers are largely excluding the rural areas?

Rural banks are for the rural areas. I do not expect the rural farmers to understand the rules of rural banking; rather, I expect the rural bankers to understand the rural farmers.

Our target is Happy Farmers, no more, no less. (The "Happy Farmers" image above is from ECPL[1].)

Notwithstanding, I say the failure of RBAP members to serve their sworn clients fully is not a failure of management but a failure in understanding the ultimate role of credit in the countryside:

Inclusive development.

Credit is the common instrument, not the end of the transaction. Interest for the rural bank is given, but so should be inclusive development for the rural farmers.

At least, the rural bankers are waking up to the challenge. Says Manong Willie to the RBAP:

Let me congratulate the… rural credit stakeholders for the many initiatives you have pursued towards uniting rural banks and strengthening partnerships with government and other industry partners.

"Towards strengthening partnerships with government and other industry partners" – the partnership of all is needed for inclusive development.

Partnerships were with William Dar from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2014 when he was the 3-term Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, which is based in India. I know because I was international consulting writer during those years; in fact, ICRISAT published my articles into 7 books (will begin to share their pertinent contents soon).

Partnerships in mind, I'm sure, Manong Willie says:

We support your efforts to harness digital technologies such as cloud-based systems to attain operational efficiencies and offer more services to the unbanked and underserved portion of the population.

In the concept of inclusive development, the farmers are active partners, not simply clients. The rural bankers should be more excited with the prospects of development than the prospects of earning interests on farmer loans. They owe it to their countrymen.

Manong Willie says:

With the advent of climate change and increased global competition, Filipino farmers, fisherfolk and their (families) are most vulnerable, making them less food-secure and unable to compete. The… country's rural poverty incidence remains high, at 30 percent.

The challenge is not low rural bank earnings but high rural poverty!@517

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[1]https://www.facebook.com/ECPLSocial/posts/happy-farmers-day-to-the-first-providers-of-health-thank-you-farmersecplghanafar/583600578749582/