Smallholder tree farming in the Philippines: a comparison of two credit programmes

One way to encourage tree farming is to remove the financial constraints caused by lack of credit that make it difficult for small, private landowners to establish tree farms even if the potential profits are large. The first project involves loan financing of small landowners in the vicinity of the mill of the Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines (PICOP) for pulpwood production. The second project aims at reducing the fuelwood shortage affecting small tobacco farmers in a different region of the country. It also broadens the range of potential beneficiaries to include 'kaingineros', landless slash-and-burn farmers.-from Author