PHL needs P45.47B in ODA loans for farm-related projects

The Philippines needs P45.47 billion in official development assistance (ODA) to fund 31 farm-related projects, the Department of Agriculture said in a report to the President. Only nine of those projects have sufficient funding, but 22 still needs to be financed, the department said in its year-end report to President Benigno Aquino III. "The [project] proposals are in different stages of the ODA approval process. By and large, we're expecting most the projects to get funding next year," Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala told reporters Thursday. The projects include the P7.5-billion Malitubog-Maridagao irrigation project, which will be implemented in Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, and the P6.3-billion Irrigation Systems Operation Efficiency Improvement Project, which aims to improve the irrigation services in selected irrigation systems in Region VI and Region XI. The government is also eyeing loans from the Export-Import Bank of China to upgrade and rehabilitate the Navotas Fishport Complex, estimated at P2.44 billion, according to the report. The department also needs to develop its sustainable upland watershed management and small water impounding facilities to the tune of P1.04 billion. Another potential donor government is looking at is Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) for a project of the Bureau of Soils and Water Management. Also slated for Koica funding is the P310-million vegetable processing centers in the Philippines, currently being reviewed by South Korea. Approved in principle by the Japan International Cooperation Agency is the P610.22-million Capacity Development Towards Farm-Centered Agricultural Extension System. The government is also seeking grants from Asian Development Bank and Internal Fund for Agricultural development for phase two of the Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management, estimated at P460 million, the department said. — JE/VS, GMANews.TV