With the arrival of the Government, The agricultural sector has been presenting different changes in favor of peasants and producers. The National Agricultural Credit Commission unanimously established the new guidelines ratifying “the Government’s commitment to the countryside and the implementation of peace,” according to a document from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
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Within the decision, the Commission, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, Cecilia López, established a new orientation in public policy on issues of fagricultural financing and in addition, it decreed that small producers will be prioritized in credit operations.
Likewise, it set a credit placement goal for the sector for 2023 for $20 billion, which will be executed by Finagro. Continuous, it was established that 92% of the operations will be destined to small producers and small low-income producers.
For her part, Ángela María Penagos, president of Finagro, told Portafolio that the criteria for these resources are focused in the intervention of the credit promotion that the entity manages, mainly in small producers. “We are going to have some beneficiaries where rural women, rural youth, peasants, ethnic communities, Afro-Colombians will be highlighted, according to what was approved by the Commission,” said the president.
According to the document, the Agricultural Guarantee Fund will support the financial inclusion of new producers, offering greater coverage for their credits, within which $4.8 trillion will be allocated to promote access to credit of all the agricultural producers that will allow irrigating credit resources to the sector for $6.3 trillion.
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Faced with this, Penagos indicated that Finagro’s work is to focus the $6.3 billion on small producers, articulating this development credit with the other instruments of the agricultural sector to achieve iInterventions with the greatest impact for the transformation of the agricultural and food sector.
According to data provided by the president, the indicative credit plan for 2022 was more than $23 billion, of which the entity managed $5.9 trillion. “It is important to highlight that according to the Commission’s decision, Finagro’s credit rose by almost one trillion pesos, compared to that granted the previous year,” he explained.
Faced with projections for next year, the official assured that development credit is expected to be strengthened as an instrument of productive transformation. “This is an important factor because this credit is at lower rates and that by definition will allow us to reach producers who usually do not have access to it.he,” he said.
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Likewise, Ángela María Penagos indicated that next year a new definition of low-income small producer will also be made, which has a maximum income of $50 million per year and assets of $450 million.
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