New Zealand provides P18 million for agriculture recovery

MANILA, Philippines — The New Zealand government has extended P18 million in assistance to help Northern Luzon farmers continuously recover from Typhoon Ompong.

The money was used to assist 3,550 farming families in Cagayan and Ilocos, the hardest hit by Typhoon Ompong in September 2018.

“We are doing what we can to help farmers recuperate from the losses incurred. We hope this support will help ease food security in the region,” New Zealand deputy head of Mission Tim Stewardson said.

New Zealand’s livelihood assistance is being implemented in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

FAO has distributed fertilizers to the farming families to complement the Department of Agriculture’s provision of rice seeds, and also held damage assessment and reporting system-related trainings for the partners from DA, provincial and municipal agriculture offices.

It also provided technical support through production-related training to help farming families who missed the harvest season in October due to the typhoon.

“The New Zealand government is a long-standing partner of FAO, particularly in enabling immediate support to help farmers resume their income-generating activities and gradually recover from losses following a disaster,” said Jose Luis Fernandez, FAO representative in the Philippines.

Typhoon Ompong damaged nearly P27 billion in the agriculture sector.