The International Funding for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will be implementing the Rural Agro-enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and Growth Project (RAPID Growth) in Mindanao which will be managed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
IFAD Asia and Pacific region country director Alessandro Marini said in an interview on Tuesday that they will invest more in Mindanao since the government requested their office to pour financial aid especially in the rural areas due to poverty situation.
“IFAD’s mandate is really to alleviate poverty in rural areas,” he said.
The project has a US$62.9 million fund coming from IFAD loan and US$ 2.5 million IFAD grant.
Marini said the program targets small farmers and micro-entrepreneurs to uplift their lives through value chain development, productive investments and project management.
He said this project will be focusing to upscale their product from four identified commodities such as cocoa, coconut, coffee and processed foods and nuts.
Marini said there are specific provinces and barangays will be identified from six identified regions in Mindanao that will benefit the project. These have been selected based on the growth potential in selected priority agricultural value chains and operational efficiency.
Marini stressed that the special focus also of this project are the women, youth and indigenous people in the rural areas.
However, he clarified that in order for the project to be successful, they need give the beneficiaries to easy access to financial services, adequate technology, knowledge and other inputs. The aids that will be given to the recipients must be for projects that are sustainable and could make farmers self-reliant.
