DA seeks $2-B fund for key agri projects

Department of Agriculture (DA) logo with rice and some high-value crops. INQUIRER FILES

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking to secure more than $2 billion or approximately P117.9 billion from multilateral lenders World Bank and Asian Development Bank and France to bankroll various projects for the agriculture sector.

Among the 12 to 14 projects lined up for the farm sector, the Philippine Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project may secure the largest funding of $1 billion if approved by the World Bank.

“This will become the single largest project within the department,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in a press briefing on Monday.

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De Mesa, also the DA’s spokesperson, said the big-ticket project will prioritize the implementation of agriculture infrastructure projects to address the lack of significant investments in such undertakings over the last three decades.

“The goal of this project is to create disbursement-linked indicators wherein the department will commit to certain policy reforms within the government, within the [DA]. In return, there will be disbursement on the fund that can be used for priority projects of the president and the [agriculture] secretary,” he said in Filipino.

De Mesa said the Philippine Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project will be the first project in the country that will be under the World Bank’s Program-for-Results (PforR) financing, wherein it focuses on the outcome of implementing the government’s programs or policy reforms.

The DA is expecting the loan agreement for this project to be signed by June next year and its effectivity a month later. De Mesa said the World Bank will conduct the pre-appraisal mission next week.

The agriculture official also said the World Bank has begun the scoping mission on another undertaking, the $300-million project called the MSME Access to Finance and Climate Resiliency Project, also for five years.

It seeks to aid communities affected by calamities, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The DA is partnering with the Department of Finance, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., the Insurance Commission and the Philippine Guarantee Corp.

De Mesa also said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently approved a $250 million in funding for a solar-powered irrigation project for next year, targeting areas for planting rice, corn and vegetables.

“Our priority is to ensure first that the water will be sustainable because we do not want it to be stagnant [or] unusable,” he said.

The technical board of the National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee approved this project and is anticipated to begin by next year.

Likewise, the ADB approved a $140-million grant for the preparation of three infrastructure projects—installation of 18 ports nationwide, the pipe irrigation system and an aquaculture project for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Meanwhile, the DA will submit a proposal to the NEDA within the week to obtain €300 million in financing to fund the development of farm-to-market bridges across the archipelago from the French government.