Preliminary activities have been conducted to effectively validate farmer associations and cooperatives as Proponent Groups (PG) of new enterprise development subprojects for funding under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP).

The PG validation intends to evaluate the organizational and financial capabilities of farmer groups that intend to propose enterprise subprojects for PRDP funding.

Prior to the validation activities, orientations were conducted to various farmer groups and local governments to discuss the guidelines and documentary requirements in proposing new I-REAP (enterprise development) subprojects under the second additional financing (AF 2) of the PRDP.

“Farmer associations and cooperatives who submitted their letter of intent (LOI) are being evaluated based from the documents they submitted,” said Rocalyn Gayagay, Business Development Officer.

Aside from the LOI, documentary requirements include certificate of registration, certificate of compliance, latest audited financial report, LGU evaluation on the financial and organizational capability of the farmer group, accomplishment reports and photos of projects undertaken in the last three years, proof of equity, certificate of no unliquidated account with PLGU, certified true copy of the articles of incorporation/cooperation by laws, a sworn affidavit of the farmer group regarding consanguinity/ affinity to government officials/agency authorized to process and/or approve the proposal, and lastly, their proposed business plan model.

In the conduct of PG validation, representatives from other units are also present to discuss the economic viability of their proposals and to ensure that these are socially and environmentally safe.

According to Gayagay, proposed interventions on marketing support are in demand considering the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, Jocelyn W. Beray, head of the Regional Project Coordination Office-CAR I-REAP component said that enterprise subprojects under the AF 2 funding are now focused to help producer groups recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Several changes has been made to fast track the approval and implementation of proposed enterprise subprojects under the AF 2,” she added.

To date, orientations and PG validation activities are simultaneously being held to interested farmer associations and cooperatives in the Cordillera provinces. After the PG validation, a confirmation will be issued which would signal the PGs to develop their business plans with the assistance of their respective LGUs. Writeshops and technical reviews will also be conducted for the improvement of their business plans.

All enterprise subprojects under the AF 2 funding are lined up for approval by the Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) on the third quarter of this year and to be issued with No Objection Letter 1 (NOL 1) before the year ends.

“We are hopeful that these new enterprise development subprojects will be implemented early next year to help our farmers cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic the soonest,” added Beray. ### Elvy Taquio Estacio (DA-PRDP)