As the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) scales-up in providing viable agri-enterprises and infrastructures in the Cordillera, the project’s I-PLAN (Local & National Level Planning) component continues to take steps in promoting three-way partnership among the DA, local government units (LGUs), and private sector in planning, programming, and improving the delivery of support services.

To date, the Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) – CAR has nine approved value chain analyses (VCA) that were translated into Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIP) of six provinces. These include coffee, cardava banana, white potato, mango, highland vegetables, sweet potato, ubi, heirloom rice, and beef cattle. Data gathering and analysis have already started for the hog VCA.

As of this year, coffee has emerged as the top agricultural commodity supported in the Cordillera under the DA-PRDP bagging a total of PhP2.10 billion worth of subprojects. This includes 23 infrastructure and enterprise development subprojects (SPs) of which 19 were already completed while four are ongoing.

The DA-PRDP also shelled out a cumulative cost of PhP827 million-worth of infrastructure and enterprise SPs to support the heirloom rice industry in the region. This covers 22 SPs of which only one is ongoing while the rest were already completed.

Meanwhile, to be able to plan for a more climate-resilient agriculture and fishery sector, the DA-PRDP has recently rolled out the integration of climate and other risk considerations into the investment planning process. This includes the Climate-Risk Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA), Multi-risk Assessment, Integrated Spatial Planning, and Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) early screening.

According to RPCO-CAR I-PLAN Component Head Dr. Susan D. Balanza, the enhanced investment planning tools will allow the PCIPs to be aligned to the National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization and Industrialization Plan (NAFMIP) – a policy-and-strategy oriented plan that will serve as the sectoral guide for other agriculture and fisheries development plans, sector-wide goals, outcomes, and outputs towards a transformative sector growth.

Orientation and workshop activities have already been conducted to include CRVA data in the PCIPs of Benguet and Kalinga.

Moreover, with the implementation of the PRDP Scale-Up this year up to 2029, the I-PLAN component will strengthen the framework and linkages for the delivery of decentralized but integrated agriculture and fishery services by the national and LGUs.

PRDP Scale-Up will roll out a new basis for investment through a regional and interprovincial perspective in investment planning, and the inclusion of rice and corn as priority commodities nationwide. With the integration of the CRVA, the project will also highlight climate resilience as a common feature across interventions. ###

✍Elvy T. Estacio (RPCO-CAR Writer)