May 22, 2015

In six years, the Philippine Rural Development Project aims to raise the annual real farm incomes of household beneficiaries by 5% and increase the value of annual marketed output by 7%. To achieve these objectives, the Project uses value chain analysis (VCA) as a tool.

VCA concentrates on value-creation and rational distribution of benefits among the actors involved in the chain. Using the value chain approach in the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) preparation, PRDP identifies priority interventions and programs to invest in.

However, according to PRDP South Luzon Project Support Office (PSO) Consultant Jayd-da N. Mayoralgo, there are limited experts on value chain in the country. Thus, she and Planning Specialist Rey Lara devised a three-module training on VCA and PCIP preparation, the second of which was held at Villa Caceres Hotel in Naga City on May 18-22, 2015. Planners from Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Naga City attended the said activity. Joining them were the Investments in Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan (AFMP) Planning at the Local and National Levels (I-PLAN) teams of Region IV-B (MIMAROPA) and Puerto Princesa City, Palawan as well as staff from the Regional Project Coordination Office V and Lydia Noblefranca, Assistant Seaweeds Coordinator of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region V.

Mayoralgo and Lara facilitated the participants’ sharing of field experiences and updates on action plans for Module 1 including milestones, activities undertaken, value chain map and product flow outputs. They also reviewed and provided recommendations to the VCA preparation for sweet potato and cassava of the Provincial Project Management and Implementing Units (PPMIU) of Albay and Camarines Sur, respectively. Also critiqued were the VCA map and product flow for PPMIU-Sorsogon’s sea weeds, pen shell (baloko), and neon shell (badoy), Catanduanes’ mud crab, Masbate’s goat products, and Naga City’s pili processing.

In addition, Lara coached the participants and facilitated a workshop on Value Chain Economic Analysis. He also lectured on Relationships and Inter-Firm Cooperation and the Importance and Process of Stakeholders Consultation. Meanwhile, Engr. Arnel L. Tenorio, Geographic Information System (GIS) data specialist of the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) Geomapping and Governance Unit, gave an overview on geo-tagging, another tool used by PRDP to enhance transparency and supervision of development projects. He then facilitated a workshop on Expanded Vulnerability Suitability Assessment (eVSA), a user online tool designed for PRDP’s VCA and PCIP preparation that shows prioritized municipalities according to planners’ parameters.

Moreover, Mayoralgo provided brief discussions on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis and VCA Report Outline. She also facilitated the action planning for the Module 3: Writeshop on PCIP Formulation scheduled on July 6-10, 2015 in Metro Manila.

According to Mayoralgo, successful VCA preparation entails full-time staff to craft the VCA, enhancing of staff’s capacity or expertise, and finding relevant data and information. She also emphasized the importance of knowing the industry and how and where to get the right information on a particular commodity.

“In our cluster, we are learning by doing in order to create a pool of experts in VCA among the PPMIUs who are more familiar to the area and the industries in their locality,” she said.

Thelma Bardon of PPMIU-Camarines Norte and Engr. Millie Bueta of PPMIU-Albay agreed saying that the topics discussed especially on economic analysis and eVSA enabled their teams to analyze all the players in the value chain and equipped them in preparing the VCA report.

“This will help us identify interventions in the proposals to be submitted for the next phase of the Project,” Bardon stated.

The I-PLAN team targets to finish all the VCAs and secure No Objection Letter 1 by last week of July 2015. RPCO V has scheduled an expository tour and a series of stakeholders consultation beginning June 9, 2015 to gather more relevant data for a more comprehensive VCA report and PCIP. (Annielyn L. Baleza, I-SUPPORT InfoACE Unit, DA-RAFIS 5)

PRDP South Luzon Project Support Office (PSO) Consultant Jayd-da N. Mayoralgo comments on the value chain map for sweet potato of PPMIU-Albay during the Training on Value Chain Analysis and Provincial Commodity Investment Plan Preparation Module 2 held at Villa Caceres Hotel in Naga City on May 18-22, 2015.