The Government of the Philippines,
through the Department
of Finance (DOF), and
the World Bank (WB)
signed a US$600-million
loan agreement on July
7, 2023 for the Philippine
Rural Development Project (PRDP) Scale-Up,
which is geared towards
transforming agriculture
into a modernized and industrialized sector through
public infrastructure interventions and strengthening the commodity value
chain.
PRDP Scale-Up,
a major initiative of the
Department of Agriculture
(DA), is an expanded response to the persistent
challenges confronting
the agriculture and fisheries (A&F) sector and rural
communities in the country.
In particular, the
Project will boost farmer
and fisherfolk access to
markets, increase income
from selected agri-fishery
value chains, and improve
efficiency in the food supply chain.
In a stakeholder
meeting last June 6, 2023,
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. emphasized the
need to develop the agriculture sector not only in
terms of production, but
also in ensuring the welfare of farmers and fisherfolk. The Presidentโs
thrust for a modernized
agriculture and agribusiness sector is envisioned
to spur social and economic transformation, as
detailed in the Philippine
Development Plan (PDP)
2023-2028.
The Project will
cover 16 regions composed of 82 provinces
in the country, focusing
on areas where about
half of the Philippinesโ
109.03-million A&F population resides.
It will entail direct investments in rural
infrastructure and enterprise sub-projects, which
will directly benefit about
450,000 farmers and fisherfolk and generate about
42,000 new jobs.
Amounting to
US$818 million (PHP45.01
billion) in total, the remaining US$218 million will be
funded by the National
Government (NG) and involved local government
units (LGUs).
The WB has
been supporting the project since 2014, and has
provided two additional
loans in 2018 and 2021.
Upon the completion of the Project, the
DA aims to facilitate its
transition into a regular
locally-funded program to
ensure the continuity and
sustainability of the projectโs interventions.
As of July 2023,
the total WB official development assistance (ODA)
loan and grant commitments amount to an estimated US$7.94 billion.
