The Japanese government has turned over P126 million worth of completed farm-to-market roads, communal irrigation systems and equipment to farmers in the Visayas.
In a news statement, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) said agriculture infrastructure aid is expected to benefit over 3,000 agrarian-reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in three areas in Western Visayas.
The aid was extended through the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (Arisp) undertaken by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and Jica.
“The projects aim to give an economic push to local farmers in need of agriculture infrastructure to raise productivity and market their goods. Hopefully, the infrastructure will enable the farmers, particularly in agrarian-reform communities [ARCs]to move up the value chain and increase their income,” Jica Project Formulation Advisor Kumiko Ogawa said.
Jica and the DAR turned over a 7-kilometer farm-to-market road with a bridge and a warehouse and dryer in Buruanga, Aklan, and a 4.28-kilometer farm-to-market road with bridge and spillway, communal irrigation and postharvest facilities in Pandan, Antique.
Farmers in Iloilo also received a 5.96-kilometer farm-to-market road and communal irrigation system under the Jica and the DAR project.
DAR Undersecretary for Foreign-Assisted Projects Herman Ongkiko said the subproject packages will be of great help to the ARC.
“The irrigation facility will ensure that farmers will harvest crops; the postharvest facility is where they will store and process their agri-products; and the concreted farm-to-market roads will bring their products to the markets,” Ongkiko said.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael V. Mariano and Chief Representative Susumu Ito of Jica have also committed to continue collaborative efforts in providing essential support services and infrastructure that would increase the income of small farmers to catalyze rural economic development.
Data showed that Western Visayas has the highest farm holdings or lands for agriculture production in the Philippines at 518,000 farms as of 2012 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Farmers in the region plant rice, banana and vegetables. Many of them are also engaged in livestock production.
ARCs in the Western Visayas are among the target beneficiaries of the DAR-Jica-Arisp project, a development cooperation initiative that aims to support 132 ARCs in 54 provinces in the Philippines.
In 2014 agriculture accounted for 10 percent of the country’s GDP and provided jobs to 38 million people.
Aside from ARISP, JICA has been supporting agriculture development in the Philippines since the 1980s through establishment of infrastructure facilities.
These include the Philippine Rice Institute’s capacity building for Filipino rice scientists and farmers, as well as knowledge exchange between Japanese and Filipino rice scientists.