DA unveils 5-year plan worth P6.6B to boost agri in Mindanao
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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday said that it will undertake a five-year plan worth P6.625 billion in order to boost agricultural productivity in Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm).
The initiative, called the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP), will be funded by a development assistance loan from the World Bank.
According to the DA, the MIADP “seeks to enhance resiliency and access to markets and services of organized farmer and fisherfolk groups in selected ancestral domains, and selected value chains in Mindanao.”
“The project is expected to improve the economic situation of the [indigenous people] in Mindanao through the provision of agri-infrastracture support such as farm-to-market roads, bridges, small-scale irrigation projects, potable water system, and agriculture tramline system,” said the DA in a statement.
Other than indigenous people, the initiative vows support for micro, small, and medium enterprises, as well as local government units.
A document with the same name as the MIADP is posted on the DA’s website and was dated October 2021, but the agency has not confirmed if this is the same plan that they want to launch from 2023 to 2028.
The DA was further pressed by the media about more specific details about the projects, but the agency has yet to respond.
The MIADP was recently approved by the National Economic Development Authority.
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