World Bank team evaluates progress of rural development program

MANILA, Philippines - A team from the World Bank is reviewing the progress of several projects implemented under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP).

The WB team is headed by PRDP task team leader Samik Sundar Das.

Officials from WB and DA-PRDP would visit projects in Palawan for the South Luzon cluster, Isabela for the North Luzon cluster, Misamis Occidental and Lanao del Norte for the Mindanao cluster, and Bohol for the Visayas cluster.

As of August, P10.96 billion has been approved for funding infrastructure projects under the Infrastructure Development (I-BUILD) component of the program, while P1.62 billion has been allocated for production, processing, and marketing activities of agri-fishery products under the Enterprise Development (I-REAP) component.

According to the DA, a total of 10 infrastructure projects worth P297.61 million are now being implemented and 50 percent complete, while 33 other infrastructure projects worth P2.02 billion are still below 50 percent in progress.

The agency said 16 infrastructure subprojects worth P616.85 million have been approved for implementation, through the issuance of No-Objection Letter 2 and 124 sub-projects amounting to P8 billion have been approved for funding and have been given the first letter of no objection.

Under the I-REAP component, 10 subprojects worth P78.65 million have been approved for funding. Among these are the calamansi marketing and trading project of the Naujan Farmers’ Association in Oriental Mindoro which recently received P700,000.00 from the PRDP.

Last June, the PRDP also remitted P20 million to the Polo Samahang Nayon Cooperative to jumpstart its cassava granules production and marketing project.

The PRDP is a six-year program implemented by the DA with the World Bank for the creation of an inclusive, value-oriented and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector. It was rolled out in the second semester of 2014.

The total project cost for the PRDP is P27.5 billion, consisting of a P20.5 billion loan from the World Bank, P3.58 billion counterpart funding from the national government, P3.112 billion equity of local government units, and P287 million grant from the Global Environment Facility.

The PRDP builds on the innovations introduced by the Mindanao Rural Development Program that was concluded in 2013. It would cover 80 provinces in 16 regions.

Local government units that choose to participate in the project are required to provide counterpart funds of 10 percent of the project cost for production support for commodities and 20 percent of the project cost for infrastructure projects.

“Together with local governments, the academe, the business sector and other grassroots stakeholders, we have endeavored to develop the right tools to determine the right investments for the development of commodities produced by our farmers and fishers,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said.

Modern tools are now being employed by the program to prevent the occurrence of ghost and overlapping projects.

The Expanded-Vulnerability and Suitability Assessment Tool, an online tool, takes account of socio economic indicators to help target interventions under the project.

The Applied Goetagging, on the other hand, is used to validate and monitor progress of sub-projects under the PRDP. Through the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in smartphones, photographs of proposed and implemented sub-projects can be laid out in Google Earth and be viewed online.

“We have instituted reforms in planning among local government units using scientific and evidence-based tools that ensure development initiatives on agriculture are responsive to the needs of specific localities. Through these reforms, we contribute to the eradication of patronage politics that perpetuates corruption and hampers delivery of services to areas where these are needed most,” Alcala said.