The World Bank was poised to conduct a third review mission of the Philippine Rural Development Project in Mindanao to ensure that substantial programs have been implemented, according to Fraukhe Jungblutt, WB team leader at a press conference yesterday at the Insular Waterfront Hotel.
Funded in partnership with the World Bank, the PRDP is a six-year special program of the Department of Agriculture focused on establishing a modern, value chain oriented, and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector.
The WB team was set to conduct the review mission for the PRDP in Mindanao on Nov. 22-23 with visits to farm to market roads and other enterprise sub-projects in Compostela province.
Jungblutt explained that the review will also look into the planned, proposed and on-going implementation of various projects especially infrastructures.
“PRDP is not just about roads but improving agriculture as a whole,” said Aracelli Morano, PRDP Deputy Project Director. She added that one of the aims of PRDP is to strengthen their collaborations with their sister agency the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) along with LGUs especially with the expediency and security of documents for implementation.
Morano revealed that as of November 2016, Mindanao has a total indicative portfolio of 252 subprojects with a P12.93 billion budget. Of these, 173 subprojects worth P7.65 billion have approved.
The rest of the projects, according to her, are still under various stages of preparation or on-going implementation.
“Most of the projects are farm-market roads,” Morano remarked.
Other projects for Mindanao include small scale irrigation projects for farmers and siltation of watersheds.
Morano said it is important for the PRDP to be constantly reviewed so that they may identify the best commodity for certain issues in agricultural development.
“We need to search for the gaps and limitations of these projects,” she added.
The PRDP is jointly funded by World Bank, the national government, and the local governing units throughout Mindanao.
