MANILA, Jul 10 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Finance (DOF) and the World Bank (WB), have signed a loan agreement of 600 million U.S. dollars, to fund a rural development project that will modernise agriculture and improve infrastructure, the finance department said today.
The DOF said, the loan agreement was signed on Jul 7, for the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Scale-up, which is geared towards transforming agriculture into a modernised and industrialised sector, through public infrastructure interventions and strengthening the commodity value chain.
PRDP Scale-Up, an initiative of the Department of Agriculture (DA), is an expanded response to the persistent challenges confronting the agriculture and fisheries (A&F) sector and rural communities in the country.
Specifically, the DOF said, the project will boost farmer and fisherfolk access to markets, increase income from selected agri-fishery value chains, and improve efficiency in the food supply chain.
The DOF said, the project entails direct investments in rural infrastructure and enterprise sub-projects, benefiting about 450,000 farmers and fisherfolk and generating nearly 42,000 new jobs.– NNN-PNA
