The Philippine government has partnered with BDO Unibank Inc. and US Agency for International Development (USAID) to launch a massive financial education campaign among fishermen nationwide.
A statement released on Monday showed that the Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR); the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP); BDO Foundation; and USAID, through its Fish Right Program, have jointly launched a partnership for the financial education of fishers across the country.
The collaboration will offer training to fishers on topics such as saving and budgeting, supplementary income sources, and the proper use of micro-loans and micro-insurance to help break the vicious cycle of poverty and natural resource depletion.
BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said the agri-fisheries sector has untapped potential to be the engine of inclusive growth and development, and that the central bank hopes to unleash this potential by empowering the sector’s poor and low-income households through financial inclusion and financial education.
“We aim to equip fishers and their families with prudent financial management skills and right attitudes toward money to help them cope with irregular incomes and other economic shocks that they typically encounter in their livelihoods,” Diokno said.
BDO Foundation president Mario Deriquito, for his part, said financial education interventions for underserved sectors of society are critical especially now that we are coping with the effects of a pandemic.
“We hope to be able to use the learning resources we have developed with BSP and other partners to further push financial inclusion, contribute to the government’s capacity-building efforts, and make a difference in the lives of fishers and their families,” he further said.
Meanwhile, USAID’s Fish Right Program will support the design of the financial education module and its roll-out with fishing communities, drawing from more than two decades of USAID experience in marine biodiversity conservation and fisheries management in the Philippines.
“Anchored on DA’s flagship program on accelerating harvest and incomes, the FitLit program will be customized to the fishing sector and incorporate the value of taking care of the sea, saving for the future, and growing income through entrepreneurship,” said Patrick Wesner, Deputy Mission Director of USAID Philippines.
“Through USAID Fish Right program, we hope to build the capacity of more than 25,000 fishers with the intent to reach even more with the help of our partner NGOs and universities in Calamianes Island Group, South Negros and Visayan Sea,” he added.
The Fish Right Program is implemented by the University of Rhode Island and a consortium of organizations including PATH Foundation Philippines Inc. (PFPI) and Silliman University.