EU envoys to visit CAR, Cagayan Valley

The ambassadors of the European Union, led by the head of the delegation of the European Commission, Ambassador Jan de Kok, are going on a mission to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Cagayan Valley to review the accomplishments of major integrated rural development projects of the Department of Agriculture in partnership with the European Union.

The envoys will visit Hungduan, Banaue, Asipulo and Kiangan and Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya starting today until March 10.

De Kok is joined by Ambassadors Robert Vornis (the Netherlands), Christiaan Tanghe (Belgium), Herbert Jess (Germany), Renée Veyret (France), Umberto Colesanti (Italy) and Annika Markovic (Sweden).

The ambassadors are also holding dialogues with local officials, beneficiaries and stakeholders of the projects which are under the Central Cordillera Agricultural Program (CECAP) and the Economic Self-Reliance Program-Caraballo and Southern Cordillera Agricultural Development (ERP-CASCADE).

Both programs aim to raise local incomes and living standards and strengthen the resource management capabilities of indigenous communities. They are set to close in July.

The CECAP has a total budget of 27.5 million euros, of which 23 million euros is provided by the European Commission (EC), with an equivalent 4.5 million euros from the Philippine government.

The CASCADE, on the other hand, has a total budget of 22.5 million euros, of which 13.5 million euros is a grant from the EC.

De Kok said both programs reaffirm the EC-Philippines’ development cooperation’s thrust to alleviate poverty in rural areas with several multisectoral interventions in the poorest provinces of the country, mainly in Mindanao and Northern Luzon.

The decentralized and participatory approach toward development continues to characterize the EC-supported development programs and the area-focused intervention in agricultural production and productivity, sustainable resource management, small infrastructure, microfinance and livelihood, and social services such as health and water supply.