The government eyes to avail of a grant from the World Bank’s (WB) Pandemic Fund to improve the country’s biosecurity measures for animal health, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The $300-million WB Pandemic Fund this year aims to help developing countries be more prepared for, and responsive against future pandemics.
Arnel De Mesa, DA assistant secretary for operations, said in an interview last week, the agency proposed for a $25 million (P1.38 billion) grant fund to be utilized for improvements on livestock and animal health that will be tied up to the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Scale Up program.
PRDP Scale Up is an expanded project of the DA designed to address gaps in commodity value chains by improving the efficiency of the food supply chain. Scale Up is proposed to be funded through a $600- million loan from the WB.
“This is tied up with the PRDP Scale Up project that was recently approved by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee… this will be like a grant component,” De Mesa said.
“Our focus in DA is surveillance, to improve biosecurity of our laboratories as well as our response for animal diseases,” De Mesa added. -Jed Macapagal
