DA pursues foreign project funding for farm investments

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is on a quest to secure funding sources from the country’s international development partners for investments in the farming sector, such as infrastructure and irrigation.  

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the  DA recognizes the limited resources of the government to undertake major projects such as seaports, roads and bridges, and irrigation, which are to modernize the agriculture sector and boost farmers' and fishermen's revenue.

“Your department is working at finding other funding sources from official development partners to implement necessary and relevant interventions needed to address critical sectoral and institutional challenges and investment gaps,” he said at the Manila Overseas Press Club.

Moreover, as an effort to improve linking farm and fisheries production sites to post-harvest facilities to markets and major highways, DA  proposed to the French government the ‘Build Better More’ project, which is expected to decrease trade barriers and result in more effective distribution of food and agricultural commodities.

The Agri chief also disclosed proposing a project under the World Bank’s (WB) Program for Results (P4R) to provide incremental funding expediting the DA’s initiatives, augment the impact of its programs, and emphasize achieving sustainable outcomes and building institutional capacity.

The P4R project is part of the WB’s strategy to expand the impact of development interventions through a results-oriented approach.

Meanwhile, to address the food logistical cold chain issues, Laurel said DA plans on establishing more food terminals along with cold storage facilities that will be strategically placed regionally.