AGRINURTURE Inc., the listed agribusiness company of businessman Antonio Tiu, said it is in discussions with an Asian partner to pour an initial $100 million, or about P5 billion, for a new microfinance program to assist in the productivity of farmers nationwide.
The $100 million, he said, will serve as initial seed money for ANI’s planned Agri Token program, a move that is part of its technology transformation.
Tiu, who is ANI’s president and CEO, said farmers can use the tokens to buy from accredited merchants what they need to produce crops, such as fertilizers. They can easily tap the credit using their smart phones upon accreditation.
Tiu said this is better than lending cash that may otherwise be used for nonfarm purposes.
“With the token system, you can buy from accredited merchants. You can buy, for example, hybrid seeds and fertilizers you need to produce high-quality rice,” Tiu said.
He said the tokens are not virtual currency, and the program would not be taking investments from the public, but instead be funding farmers’ productivity costs.
“My limitation right now is that I can sell more bananas, mango and coconut to the world, but I cannot have enough. So this is what I am trying to achieve, to make sure we have inclusive growth. I have to include my downstream, I have to include the farmers so I need to boost their productivity,” he said.
ANI plans to launch its Agri Tokens within the next two months, with initial implementation in Luzon and Mindanao focused on two crops like rice and banana.
If the program succeeds, ANI would cover the rest of the country and add more crops to the coverage of the program.
“What we really want to achieve right now is transformation in technology. I want to make agriculture sexy so you can inspire the millennials,” he said.
ANI is one of the country’s major exporters of fruits to the world market.
It recently has added rice to its portfolio and would soon be importing rice from Vietnam in line with the government’s rice importation program.