The World Bank said Friday it approved a $600-million (around P33.3 billion) loan to the Philippines to strengthen further the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
The World Bank said in a statement the Philippine Rural Development Project Scale-Up will expand on the implementation of the Philippine Rural Development Project launched in 2014 by the Department of Agriculture.
This initiative has been instrumental in strengthening the agriculture and fisheries sectors, bolstering rural infrastructure, and enhancing connectivity.
The expansion aims to stimulate further growth in these critical sectors and strengthen the nation’s rural economy.
“Almost 60 percent of the poor work in agriculture in the Philippines, so accelerating the growth of agriculture and fishery is vital for the country’s development overall and for poverty reduction,” World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand Ndiamé Diop said.
Diop said improving access to markets will help farmers and fisherfolk in rural areas raise their incomes, provide for their families, and elevate their standards of living.
The Rural Development Project is active in 80 provinces, including 640 municipalities and 32 cities, and has reached almost 633,000 farmers, raised incomes, and improved connectivity to markets through construction of roads, bridges, and post-harvest facilities, among other interventions.
The Scale-Up will support access for micro- to medium-scale agricultural and fishery enterprises to resources, knowledge, and income-generating activities. Funding will support inputs, production, procession, marketing, and enterprise management.
The project also aims to increase participation of women in these activities.
World Bank Senior Agriculture Economist Mio Takada said the Rural Development Project concentrated on spurring growth among farming and fishing enterprises.
“The Scale-Up takes this further, emphasizing support throughout the value chain, from production through to marketing, ultimately increasing the competitiveness and profitability of these businesses,” Takada said.
This scaling up of rural development support will fund climate-proof infrastructure, including more roads, bridges, irrigation systems, and post-harvest storage facilities such as warehouses, drying, and cold storage
In addition, to strengthen rural infrastructure and connectivity,.
It will also provide improved technology to reduce post-harvest losses and put in place more efficient logistics. This will help ensure a stable supply of food and agricultural products in markets.
The Scale-Up will prioritize fewer but larger programs, increasing support for investments that will have benefits beyond the immediate project area, including research and development, infrastructure, market connectivity, and biosecurity.
It will also provide enterprise grants to support farmers’ and fisherfolk cooperatives, associations, and local government units.
The World Bank financing will come from a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a global development cooperative owned by 189 member countries.
As the largest development bank in the world, it supports the World Bank Group’s mission by providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, as well as by coordinating responses to regional and global challenges.