Pugo, La Union – The World Bank recently conducted its first review for the North Luzon Cluster of the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP).

The review mission’s kick-off meeting started on Wednesday , February 4 which aims to look into the status of the implementation and the progress of each component under the North Luzon cluster.

This marks the last leg of the World Bank’s cluster review meeting for the first part of the year which started in Negros Occidental for Visayas, General Santos City for Mindanao, and Albay for South Luzon.

“The Department of Agriculture will be here to guide and support in the endeavor and to ensure that the sub-projects we propose under PRDP are what the local farmers, fisher folks and small agri-enterpreneurs need for them to succeed in their field and make a difference in their lives,” said Agri Undersecretary and PRDP National Project Director Emerson Palad, .

Nineteen out of 22 provinces in North Luzon now have their Memorandum of Agreement endorsed to the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO), covering 23.8% of the national target.

Out of 66 engaged provinces nationwide, 14 Provincial Commodity Investment Plans (PCIPs) from North Luzon cluster have already been approved by their respective Provincial Development Council, almost half of the total 29 approved PCIPs from all clusters.

Forty sub-projects in the cluster have been proposed by Local Government Units (LGUs) under the Infrastructure Development Component (I-BUILD). Thirty-three of which are Farm to Market Roads (FMRs) including five with bridges. Eight FMRs including one with bridge are already under implementation.

The North Luzon Project Support Office (PSO) has produced more than P3.4 billion worth of I-BUILD sub-project portfolio, the biggest among the four clusters, of which P798 million is ready for implementation.

The cluster’s Enterprise Development (I-REAP) has now P61.47 million worth of total portfolio.

Carolina Figueroa-Geron, World Bank- PRDP Task Team Leader acknowledged North Luzon for its accomplishments, declaring it as the leading cluster in the Philippines in terms of pipeline.

She  also pointed that the agricultural sector served a significant role in achieving 6.1% economic growth of the country in the past year.

“This is attributed to the achievements of this cluster and a testament to the work of our LGUs in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and other branches of government to make agriculture grow in the past year despite all the disasters we encountered.”

“PRDP will continue to play a big role in pushing further the growth of the sector,” Geron added.

PRDP is a six-year government platform under the Department of Agriculture (DA) designed for an inclusive, value chain-oriented and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector. It supports smallholder farmers and fishers to primarily increase their marketable surpluses and their access to markets.

Jointly funded by the World Bank, national government and local government units, the P27.5 billion project was officially declared effective last December 2014. (Kayla Arceo)

WB Task Team Leader Carolin Geron interacts with farmers during site visit of the Balecbec-Basca FMR project in Naguilian, La Union.