In line with the food security agenda of President Ferdinand R. Marcos , Jr., the Department of Agriculture (DA) undertakes the five-year Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP) to increase agricultural productivity.
The initiative, which recently received the green light from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), seeks to enhance resiliency and access to markets and services of organized farmer and fisherfolk groups in selected ancestral domains, and selected value chains in Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
The MIADP forms part of the efforts of the Marcos administration to address lingering poverty among the indigenous peoples (IPs) in the southern Philippine region.
The project, with an estimated total cost of PhP6.625 billion, will be financed through an official development assistance (ODA) loan from the World Bank.
It will adopt DA-institutionalized strategies, including strengthened planning, resource programming and implementation processes, and an integrated application of scientific and market-based data and instruments for long-term resiliency and economic profitability.
The MIADP also employs processes, approaches, and tools consistent with the principles embodied in Republic Act (RA) No. 8371, also known as “The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997.”
The project is expected to improve the economic situation of the IPs in Mindanao through the provision of agri-infrastracture support such as farm-to-market roads, bridges, small-scale irrigation projects, potable water system, and agriculture tramline system.
It will also provide agri-fishery enterprise support for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) covering different commodities including rice, corn, livestock and poultry, fisheries, and high value crops.
As it improves the economic condition of the indigenous communities, the project will strengthen the capacity of partners in the local government units (LGUs) to establish a support program in addressing the low incomes in isolated ancestral domains due to weak marketing linkages and poor infrastructure.
The MIADP will run from 2023 to 2028. ### (Adora Rodriguez, DA-AFID)
