ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national space agency said on Sunday it has signed a “landmark” memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HBL Microfinance Bank (HBL MfB) to introduce, for the first time, satellite-based agricultural analytics into the country’s lending ecosystem.
The Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) said the initiative represents a major step forward in applying space technology to support climate-smart agriculture and enhance access to finance for farmers.
The pilot will involve remote pre-loan assessments using high-resolution satellite imagery, crop health analytics, yield estimation, risk profiling, and a scoring engine to assess farm-level creditworthiness by SUPARCO. A secure API and dashboard interface will enable HBL MfB to integrate this data into its loan decision-making processes, eliminating the need for manual field verification.
“The pilot phase will be implemented in Okara District, Punjab— one of the country’s most important agricultural regions,” the statement said.
“SUPARCO’s secure API and dashboard interface will integrate directly with HBL MfB’s systems, eliminating the need for manual field verification and enabling remote pre-loan assessments.”
