The Department of Agriculture and the World Bank are eyeing the implementation of the Central Philippines Rural Development Program for six regions, including Central, Western and Eastern Visayas, a press release from the DA said.

CPRDP is a poverty-alleviation initiative that will focus on the expansion and establishment of alternative areas for staple foods, when the traditional production areas fail to provide the required volume of the market because of climate change, the press release also said.

To be patterned after the Mindanao Rural Development Plan that is now on its second phase, the CPRDP seeks to improve incomes in rural communities and achieve food security through infrastructure, financing, capacity-building, and other support services, Secretary Proceso Alcala of DA said in the press release.

He visited Dumaguete City and Valencia in Negros Oriental, and the island province of Siquijor last week, and met with local government officials, farmers, fishers, livestock growers, and other agricultural stakeholders to discuss the issues and concerns affecting farm and fishery industries.

He announced to stakeholders that he is proposing an 80-20 percent counter-funding system for the CPRDP, where the DA and the local government will each shell out 10 percent of the total cost, and the WB the bulk of the funding, the press release said.

Alcala urged LGU and agri stakeholders to let the WB know that they are interested in the CPRDP, adding that the program will assist in the infrastructure plans of the DA, including the establishment of modernized slaughterhouses, farm-to-market roads, and irrigation facilities.

He said the DA has asked for a $300 million loan from World Bank,

“I’m hoping that it will be granted and the partnership will push through”, he added in the press release.*

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