The World Bank and a specialized agency of the United Nations are helping fund a P65 billion agri-fisheries program supervised by the Department of Agriculture.
Arnel De Mesa, Agriculture assistant secretary for operations, presented all four new agency projects as part of the National Farmers and Fisherfolk Month celebrations.
The World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization support the Adapting Philippine Agriculture to Climate Change (APA) with a P2.3 billion budget and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project (FishCoRe) with an even larger backing worth P11.42 billion.
The scaled-up Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) extending over 82 provinces across the country has a budget of P45 billion while the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP) which focuses on ancestral domains in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, the Davao Region, Soccsksargen, Caraga and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has another P6.63 billion.
Agriculture enior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said the programs should help ease the burden of rising inflation and encourage growth in the countryside.
