USAID’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) announced that it will make as much as $15 million in financing available to support agricultural development in four Cambodian provinces through partnerships with multiple financial institutions.

To complement its Feed the Future Initiative and promote domestic horticulture, DCA has partnered with AMK Microfinance Institution Plc, LOLC (Cambodia) Plc and RMA Financial Services (Cambodia) Plc to handle and disperse loans for agribusinesses in Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Battambang and Pursat provinces, according to a press release yesterday.

“We are proud to encourage private sector lending in Cambodia’s agriculture sector upon which 70 percent of the population depends,” said USAID Cambodia Mission Director Polly Dunford. “We are confident that increasing access to credit in the agriculture sector will support Cambodia’s tremendous economic growth and will have positive impact on all Cambodians – whether in rural and urban areas.”

This financing coincides with the USAID Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II project which was announced last month. The five-year initiative aims to facilitate commercial partnerships between smallholder farmers and buyers. The project aims to see $37 million in sales and $12 million in investment by the time it is finished.