Trade Arrangements and Interlinked Credit in The Philippines

Describes credit relations in the production and marketing of vegetables in central Philippines. Provides insight into the interdependency of lenders and borrowers, the interweaving of trade and credit transactions, and the cultural and economic background to the combined strategy of risk spreading and profit-seeking. The paper:

• Highlights personalised relations of exchange in vegetable markets, and notes flexibility in such relations;
• Demystifies these relations (which are often over- romanticised), showing how they are interpreted differently by various traders and farmers;
• Explains how socio-economic factors, specific commodities and power create opportunities and constraints in the vegetable market.