ADB approves $2-M grant for PH farm-fishery sector

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $2-million grant to the Philippines that aims to raise the income of agriculture workers and thereby lift more of them above the poverty line.

In a statement on Thursday, the Department of Agriculture said the ADB signed the grant that would support the Competitive and Inclusive Agriculture Development Program to be implemented by the agency.

This initiative aims “to reduce income inequality by expanding economic opportunities in the country’s farm-fishery sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The latest technical assistance grant awarded by the multilateral lender is funded by the Japanese government through its Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

The bulk of the funding, equivalent to $1.493 million, will go to the establishment of rice-based cluster farm models in selected areas—two each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—to showcase the farm and fishery consolidation and clustering program.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the agency would apply cluster farming technologies used by more advanced countries such as Japan, as well as neighboring rice-exporting countries like Vietnam and Thailand.