Date Published: April 15, 2023

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) and development partner, World Bank (WB) held a one-day visit to Barangays Polo and Cannery Site in Polomolok, South Cotabato to check on the progress of I-REAP subprojects’ implementation as part of the 15th WB Implementation Support Mission to the DA-PRDP on April 14, 2023.

Representatives of World Bank composed of Agriculture Policy, Planning, and Business Specialist Agnes Deshormes, Procurement Consultant Mario Orilla, and Environmental Safeguards Specialist Ma. Luisa Martines, with the representatives from the DA-PRDP National Project Coordination Office (NPCO), Project Support Office (PSO) Mindanao, and Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) XII convened a dialogue with the members of the lead proponent groups of Polo Samahang Nayon Multipurpose Cooperative and Tibud sa Katibawasan Multipurpose Cooperative for the assessment of their subprojects.

The DA-PRDP funded the 39.3 million (M) and 17.9-M worth of post harvest facilities, tractor, hauling truck, production and financing support for the fermented cacao beans of Barangay Cannery Site and for the cassava granules of Barangay Polo, respectively.

Cassava is a prime commodity considering its high demand as an animal feed for processing by existing commercial and integrated feed mills in the province.

While the cacao-based enterprise is anchored by capable people’s organization (PO) with participating clusters that consolidate the cacao enterprise initiatives and opportunities in the province. It targets to increase job opportunities and foster strong alliance among cacao growers and organizations in South Cotabato through clustering and networking.

After the visit, World Bank specialist Agnes Deshormes noted that in Barangays Polo and Cannery Site, they have gained sufficient technical knowledge and applied mechanisms introduced by the DA-PRDP which contributed to the successful implementation of the subproject.

Also, during the mission, group discussions were conducted with proponent groups (PGs), local government unit (LGU) staff, and community beneficiaries to validate if the policies and standards were observed during project implementation.

The WB and PRDP team will head to Davao Region next week for the last leg of the World Bank Special Mission. # (via Carl Ulyssess Aguillon)