$627-M PRDP to be implemented in M’danao

MANILA, Philippines - The $627-million Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) will likely be implemented in Mindanao as early as January 2013 following satisfactory discussions with local government units (LGUs).

PRDP is a six-year program aimed at strengthening the country’s agriculture sector by helping farmers engage in higher-value processing of their produce.

The PRDP will be funded through a $500-million loan from the World Bank (WB), a $120 million counterpart from the Philippine government and beneficiary local government units (LGUs), and a $7-million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The program will initially cover six regions: CALABARZON (Region 4A), MIMAROPA (Region 4B), Bicol Region (region 5), Western Visayas (Region 6), Central Visayas (Region 7) and Eastern Visayas (Region 8).

The MRDP2 covers the provision of rural infrastructure, and the creation of Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD) components which will provide funding to agriculture-based livelihood projects.

“Mindanao will lead the implementation as we already have the experience and have been consistently rated satisfactory by the World Bank,” said MRDP2 Deputy Director Arnel De Mesa in statement. “This means we can implement PRDP projects as early as January of 2013, ahead of everyone else in the country and that’s to our advantage,” he explained.

“PRDP is a much bigger project as DA looks at a bigger rural development covering 16 regions and 80 provinces,” De Mesa said.