PRESS RELEASE
Davao City — The World Bank (WB) is expected to conduct a comprehensive review this month of the poverty alleviation program in Mindanao implemented under the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The review, which will commence in a kick-off meeting today (Monday, March 17), will look into the implementation of the various program components under the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP).
“This is the 11th review mission of the Bank since we started in 2007. This is conducted semi-annually to report our progress and see how we fare in the implementation based on our targets, and further look into means to improve and fast-track completion of the sub-projects,” MRDP Program Director Lealyn Ramos said.
In the previous review mission in September, the Program got a satisfactory rating from the Bank citing a better disbursement rate and on-track implementation of its various subprojects.
“The review mission seeks to continue assisting DA in achieving the project objectives by assessing the projects’ performance status and trajectory as the Program is expected to end by December this year,” Ramos said.
The Program aims to increase income and productivity of small farmers and fisherfolk and improve the LGUs’ capacity to deliver basic agricultural services.
Currently, the Program has attained 85.26 percent overall physical accomplishments from different components.
The rural infrastructure (RI) obtained an 84.25 percent accomplishment, while the 87.55 percent was accomplished under the
Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD) and 88.87 percent under the natural resources management (NRM).
The RI component has a total of PhP4.514 billion worth of subprojects, of which, Php2.510 billion were completed and PhP2 billion are ongoing.
Among the critical infrastructure include the completion of 855.44 kilometers of farm-to-market roads and 496.2 linear meters of bridges, which is crucial in bringing the farmers’ produce to the market.
A total of 2,242 hectares of communal irrigation projects/systems were also constructed and rehabilitated providing sufficient water to increase production of rice farmers.
The CFAD component completed PhP948.14 million worth of subprojects which include livestock production, small infrastructure, post-harvest facilities, integrated farming systems, crop production, and fishery sub-projects.
A total of 175,666 beneficiaries were reached by CFAD sub-projects through various peoples organizations.
The NRM component completed PhP146.76 million worth of sub-projects, which consists of agroforestry, riverbank stabilization, fish sanctuary and mangrove rehabilitation subprojects.
The agro-forestry sub-projects covered at least 2,367 hectares including areas in Linamon, Lanao del Norte and Jamiguitan in Agusan del Norte. Around 648 hectares of mangrove areas were also rehabilitated including areas in Surigao del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay.
“With these numbers, MRDP has made significant contributions in promoting inclusive growth and supporting poverty alleviation efforts in Mindanao,” Deputy Program Director Arnel De Mesa said.
He added that investments poured in the various MRDP components have not only boost economic development in rural areas but also instituted governance reforms that aid in the implementation of the Program and other projects of the LGUs.
Innovations such as the application of geotagging technology that promote transparency and capacity building initiatives in project management and implementation have helped in mainstreaming sustainability mechanisms that have lasting impact in the communities and local government units, he added.
MRDP2 is a poverty alleviation initiative of DA implemented in 225 towns in Mindanao. Its total funding of US$123.90 million is sourced out from the US$83.752 loan portfolio from the WB and the equity share of the national government and partner LGUs. (Jay Rosas/DA-MRDP)
