Banco ADOPEM, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation in Development (AECID), and the CODESPA Foundation have extended the Agrocrédito project, which supports producers in the livestock and agriculture sector in areas in the south of the Dominican Republic.
20,327 rural loans have been delivered up to March 2015 for an amount of 540 million pesos, of which 7,811 went to small farming and livestock producers, and 23% of the total to women.
The new credit products, tailored to the dynamic and particularities of the livestock and farming sector, include manuals for loans and financial service procedures, and a training program in Rural Financial Literacy.
Mercedes Canalda de Beras-Goico, executive president of Banco ADOPEM, presented the program’s results and announced its extension, and noted that the aim of the Agrocrédito ADOPEM project is to promote economic development through access to financial and non-financial services in order to facilitate investment by small farmers in impoverished communities in the south of the Dominican Republic. In the second phase, coverage will be extended to 11 provinces.
Manuel Sena, representative of CODESPA in the Caribbean, explained that additional facilities had been developed to meet the customers’ needs, including payment plans in several formats and particularly focused on income from crops.
Jesús De Los Santos, vice-president of REDDOM, highlighted the work done towards quality certification for the participating producers and financed by Banco ADOPEM, who have also received training from REDDOM.
Matías Martín, representing the AECID, noted the Spanish Cooperation Agency’s commitment to promoting productive sectors such as livestock and farming. He explained that this program has now been rolled out in three countries in Central America and in the Dominican Republic.