Japan extends ¥300-M grant to RP

Japan is extending a ¥300-million grant to the Philippines intended specifically for Filipino rice farmers.

According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, the Japan Grant Assistance for Underprivileged Farmers, previously known as the 2KR (Kennedy Round) grant, was approved by the Japanese government last December. This helps small palay farmers purchase ammonium sulphate fertilizer totaling some 20,000 metric tons.

The Philippines, represented by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, and Japan, represented by Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki, signed last week the exchange of notes on the grant roughly equivalent to $2.59 million.

The loan grant, Yap said, would benefit small farmers in the country’s 11 poorest provinces.

Yap expressed optimism "that these tillers who can barely meet their families’ basic needs will be able to raise their per-hectare yields and incomes through this foreign aid."

Yap said the DA is targeting marginalized farmers using certified and good seeds in irrigated and non-irrigated upland and lowland areas in selected provinces covered by the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) rice program of President Arroyo as beneficiaries of the Japan grant.

The fertilizer would be distributed to farmers whose landholdings are two hectares and below in selected areas in Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Ecija, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Albay, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

Shipments of the fertilizer purchased through the Japanese grant are tentatively scheduled to come in beginning June this year, Yap said.

The Philippines, which has been a recipient of the Tokyo aid since 1977, was selected by Japan last December as one of six countries eligible for this grant.

Under this assistance program, Japan extends farm inputs to recipient countries in the form of fertilizer, agricultural chemicals and agricultural machinery.

The DA’s National Agricultural and Fishery Council (NAFC) is directly involved in the grant program and coordinates with the Japan International Cooperation System (JICS) in supplying the farm inputs to underprivileged Filipino farmers.

The implementation of the grant starts off with the monetization phase, in which commodities are disposed through open and competitive bidding among local fertilizer companies and cooperatives.

Under the utilization phase of the program, various types of agriculture and fishery-based projects are funded, which is coordinated by the NAFC with the Japanese government.

So far, a total of 149 projects worth a total of P6.42 billion have already been funded by the grant since 1977.

These include income-generating projects such as the Livelihood Enhancement for Agricultural Development (LEAD), which is considered the most popular intervention program of the DA.

The UP Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding’s research and development programs and the small water impounding project, which involves the construction of community irrigation systems, are among the other key beneficiaries of the Japanese grant.