Agri infra to get P14B WB funding

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The World Bank (WB) is set to approve $280-million (P14 billion) additional financing (AF2) next month to Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), according to the Department of Agriculture (DA)

The second round of funding will bankroll more agriculture enterprise and rural infrastructure subprojects under the PRDP, a six-year national project under the DA that aims to establish a modern, value chain-oriented and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector.

The DA said the loan also includes an 18.3 million euros (P1 billion) co-financing grant from the European Union.

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The loan is due for approval on June 17 with formal signing set in July.

The AF2 is the second tranche of the $450 million funding from the WB as approved by the Philippine government’s Investment Coordination Committee in 2016.

In 2014, the WB provided a loan and grant package amounting to a total of $501 million to the PRDP,.

The DA said the additional PRDP funding will help meet the increasing demand for rural infrastructure in local government units and for enterprise development investments and technical assistance for farmers, fishers and agribusiness groups.

The agency also said projects under the PRDP led to a 31- percent reduction in travel time as well as a 25 percent decrease in hauling costs of agriculture produce. These projects also resulted in an at least 36 percent increase in the average income of stakeholders as reported in the project’s midterm evaluation study.

The DA said communities that hosted the projects experienced an increase in school attendance and higher levels of enrollment, faster response to medical emergencies, as well as improved peace and order situation.

Shandy Hubilla, DA-PRDP national deputy project director, said as of April 30 this year, the program has rolled out 1,091 projects in 78 provinces benefiting 766,200 households and conducted 132 value chain analysis covering 76 agri-fishery and food commodities.

Hubilla said the program has constructed more than 1,200 kilometers of roads, more than 1,000 lineal meters of bridges, 98 pre-and-post-harvest facilities, provided potable water systems for 6,582 households, improved irrigation or drainage services for 1,997 hectares of farmland and completed more than 400 enterprise sub-projects, benefitting 81,000 households, belonging to 567 proponent groups.

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