THE PHILIPPINES is seeking a $1-billion World Bank loan to boost agrifood productivity and resiliency in the face of challenges posed by climate change.
The proposed Philippine Sustainable Agriculture Transformation program aims to boost “agriculture and fisheries development by enhancing agrifood system resilience through climate-responsive strategies, diversification, supportive policies, and improved fiscal performance,” according to a World Bank loan document.
The project cost is expected to amount to $12.90 billion over 2025-2029. The World Bank will finance $1 billion while the government will provide P11.90 billion.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) hopes to begin the procurement process by July 2025.
The cost to the economy is estimated at P26 billion a year due to climate change, according to a report from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture and DA. The study had been commissioned by the World Bank.
The bank said climate change will decrease agricultural productivity in the Philippines by 9% to 21% by 2050.
During the three months to September, the value of production in agriculture and fisheries at constant 2018 prices fell 3.7% to P397.43 billion, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.
Tropical cyclones Kristine and Leon caused P9.81 billion in damage across 183,877 hectares of farmland, on lost production of 380,704 metric tons, according to the DA.
This was the first project undertaken by the government under the bank’s Program-for-Results (PforR) financing scheme. The World Bank said the PforR scheme uses a country’s institutions and processes and links the disbursement of funds directly to the achievement of specific program results.
“The PforR would particularly focus on the country’s rice-based cropping systems. This encompasses 1.9 million hectares and some 3 million farmers, which represent 37% of the country’s farmers and fisherfolk,” it said.
The DA’s plan to carry out the program is known as the Para sa Masaganang Bagong Pilipinas (MBP) 2024-2027 framework, it said.
Expected MBP outcomes are higher incomes for farmers through enhanced productivity growth and resilient natural resource and input use.
It also seeks to attract a “new generation of agri-entrepreneurs to invest in post-harvest agri-logistic activities and increase and diversify agri-food production across value chains.”
“The PforR would particularly focus on the country’s rice-based cropping systems,” the bank said, adding that this sector encompasses 1.9 million hectares and some three million farmers that represent 37% of all farmers and fisherfolk. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante