Presented during the Second APRACA FinPower Regional Forum on Strengthening Participation and Dialogue among Key Stakeholders on March 24-25, 2008 in Hanoi, Vietnam, this paper presents a brief discussion on how the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) - the credit policy and program oversight of the country's Department of Agriculture (DA) - makes effective use of the "participatory approach" in formulating policies and developing programs for improving access to credit for target clientele - the poor, marginalized farmers and fisherfolk. Using this definition, the ACPC ensures that the target beneficiaries of its programs are well-represented and play a pro-active role in policy and program decision-making.
The discussion is organized in two parts. Part I provides the current state of agricultural credit in the Philippines and Part II discusses the following: a) participatory approach in the context of agricultural credit policy; b) key stakeholders in agricultural credit; and c) participatory methods by ACPC that have resulted in effective policies and programs for improving access to credit of farmers.
