In Mabini, Davao de Oro Province, indigenous peoples (IPs) used to manually produce only a few hundred kilograms of abaca fiber, which is used for making ropes, twines, fishing lines, and other marine cordage. These days, this community – composed of members of a local farmers’ association – can produce several tons using modern stripping machines and other equipment, significantly increasing their incomes.
“With the help of stripping machines, I am able to produce more quality abaca fiber each week and deliver it to the cooperative, which buys the fiber at higher prices,” says Lolito Elojen, a local farmer and member of a cooperative.
In the towns of Solana and Amulung in Cagayan Province, residents – mostly farmers – used to travel for eight hours to bring their produce and buy their necessities in the nearest town center. These days, travel time has decreased to two hours, thanks to newly completed 20-kilometer rural or “farm-to-market” roads that have made their lives much easier.
“We can now easily transport our produce to markets. We saw with our own eyes how it benefited the people,” said Leonardo Sotero, a farmer from Amulung, noting that many of his townmates have established small businesses due to increased accessibility.
In Batangas City, members of the Soro-Soro Ibaba Development Cooperative, Inc. (SIDC) recently inaugurated a grains terminal and trading facility to boost its corn storage and production of feeds for poultry and livestock producers in the Philippines. This facility, supported by the World Bank, is expected to directly benefit around 600 yellow corn farmers, hog raisers, and poultry farmers, half of whom are women. SIDC will source corn from key agricultural areas across the country including Mindoro, Capiz, and Mindanao, thus also benefitting farmers in these areas.
“With this project, the storage, processing, and delivery of corn will become more efficient, benefiting the corn and poultry industries in the Calabarzon region. This, in turn, will strengthen the livelihoods of our farmers,” said Bon Ian Dela Rosa, Vice President of SIDC.
Supporting rural development in the Philippines
These threestories show us how the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) has been supporting rural development in the country since 2014. Implemented by the Department of Agriculture, PRDP is active in 81 provinces, including 640 municipalities and 32 cities. It provides funding for rural infrastructure as well as small business and livelihood projects for farmers and fisherfolk, aiming to raise rural incomes and reduce poverty.
The project has benefitted about 1.553 million beneficiaries nationwide (39% are women-beneficiaries). It has constructed and rehabilitated over 2,362 kilometers of farm-to-market roads which resulted in reduction of travel time by 65% during dry season and 63% during wet season and reduction in transport costs by 52%. Household beneficiaries’ incomes increased by 24% since joining the project.
In 2023, the World Bank approved additional funding to build on the PRDP to further increase market access and incomes for nearly half a million farmers and fisherfolk across the country. Called the PRDP Scale-Up, this new funding supports access for micro- to medium-scale agricultural and fishery enterprises to resources, knowledge, and income-generating activities. It supports inputs, production, processing, marketing, and enterprise management.
To strengthen rural infrastructure and connectivity, PRDP Scale-Up funds climate-smart value chain infrastructure facilities, including more roads, bridges, irrigation systems, and post-harvest storage facilities such as warehouses, drying, and cold storage. It also provides improved technology to reduce post-harvest losses and put in place more efficient logistics to help ensure a stable supply of food and agricultural products in markets.
