The Department of Agriculture on Friday said that there are priority sectors under the P6.6-billion Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project which aims to help ensure food security and alleviate poverty of indigenous peoples in the region over the next five years.
“It 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, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” the DA said.
The funds will be used to build infrastructure, including farm-to-market roads, bridges, small-scale irrigation projects, potable water system, and agricultural tramline system.
It added that it will further strengthen partnerships with local government units to reach Mindanao’s most isolated areas and provide market linkages to their farmers.
The Mindanao project will also provide agri-fishery enterprise support for micro, small, and medium enterprises to boost production and sales of rice, corn, livestock and poultry and high value crops.
“It will adopt DA-institutionalized strategies, including strengthened planning, resource programming and implementation processes, and an integrated application of scientific and market-based data and instruments for long-term resiliency and economic profitability,” the DA said.
The MIADP is among the recently added seven high-impact projects of the Marcos Administration that was approved by the National Economic Development Authority. It will be funded through loans from the World Bank.