DA to expand coverage of Mindanao dev’t project

The Department of Agriculture will expand the coverage of the Mindanao Rural Development Program-Adaptable Program (MRDP-APL 2) to include 16 poverty-stricken provinces in the region.

The MRDP is a 15-year World Bank loan program which supports the Agricultural Fisheries and Modernization Act (AFMA).

The P1.354-billion World Bank-funded MRDP phase 1 was started in April 2000 and is scheduled to be completed this June. The major components of the program are rural infrastructure, community fund for agricultural development and rural development for agricultural productivity.

Phase I of the MRDP-APL is expected to be completed in June and Phase II of the program starts in January 2005.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said the WB signed recently a grant agreement amounting to $987,684 for the preparation of the MRDP-APL 2.

The first phase of MRDP-APL, which will be completed soon – covered five Mindanao provinces, namely the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Compostela Valley, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Agusan del Sur.

Provinces that have signified their interest to be covered under MRDP-APL 2 are Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Compostela Valley, South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Maguindanao.

For the MRDP-1, the DA supervised the development of infrastructure projects such as farm-to-market roads, bridges, water supply system and irrigation projects as well as the funding of community-based livelihood projects and the preparation of barangay, municipal and provincial development plans.

Over 150 farm-to-market road projects, with an aggregate length of 746 kilometers are now in various stages of completion. In addition, eight bridges, 27 water supply systems and 40 irrigation projects were carried out under MRDP-1.

"These rural infrastructure projects alone cost close to P1 billion," Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo said a total of 30,533 households benefited from the P153 million that had been invested in 1,118 different community-based, microeconomic projects.

As part of its institutional strengthening program, the DA assisted the participating local government units in preparing their respective development plans. A total of 1,416 barangay development plans were prepared and these were integrated municipal development plans and provincial development plans.

With the completion of MRDP-1, Lorenzo said the DA will step up the assessment of all MRDP infrastructure projects as to their operation, maintenance, materials testing and quality control.

"The DA-regional field units in MRDP-covered areas will set up a systematic regular feedback mechanism to monitor the plans and programs of LGUs," he added.