By Ram Bill G. Bautista, RPCO3 Writer

In its effort to integrate climate resiliency and potential larger investments in its investment planning process, the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Central Luzon Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) conducted the Climate-Resilient Agro-Industrial Value Chain Analysis (I-VCA) training led by its national and local planning component, I-PLAN. DA-PRDP Central Luzon staff, other DA RFO III programs’ personnel, provincial local government units, and some academics underwent the I-VCA Training held on August 5-9 in Tarlac City, Tarlac.

To further improve DA-PRDP’s planning process, the I-PLAN is mandated to adapt the I-VCA which is an enhanced version of the VCA that embeds climate and other risk factors and identification of commercial-scale investments as part of the investment program.

“We must focus on this training so we can ensure that we have a strong basis for the proposal of our infra[structure] and enterprise subprojects,” DA-PRDP Central Luzon I-PLAN Component Head Noli Sambo said.

The I-VCA expands the VCA to potentially cover large agro-industry investments. It highlights the interplay between VCA and spatial planning or the strategic location of identified interventions. Moreover, the integration of climate and other hazard risk assessment involves identifying, evaluating and prioritizing relevant hazards and recommending risk management measures.

The VCA centers on creating value along the chain of activities that brings a product or service from conception through the different phases of production, delivery to customers, and disposal. It also focuses on the rational distribution of benefits among the participating actors in the chain.

In the DA-PRDP, the VCA is conducted for approved priority commodities and then reflected into the Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIPs). With the value chain approach, the PCIP is used to identify priority interventions needed to strengthen links in the commodity value chain, encouraging the efficient allocation of government resources. Furthermore, it would also promote public-private partnership by presenting viable agri-business opportunities for the private sector.

I-PLAN staff from the DA-PRDP Central Luzon RPCO and the North Luzon Project Support Office facilitated the said training that capacitated the participants in the preparation of new I-VCA’s and updating of existing VCAs with the mentioned enhancements. ###