Release number IFAD/31/08

Rome, 4 June 2008 – A US$26.56 million IFAD loan and a US$561.000 grant will help finance the Second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project in northern Philippines.

The project will capitalize on lessons from the first Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Project that was effective in reducing poverty among indigenous peoples in the uplands of the Cordillera Administrative Region. It aims to improve the livelihoods of indigenous farming communities in approximately 37 municipalities and 170 villages (barangays) in six provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region

The financing agreement for the CHARMP-2 was signed today in Rome by Kanayo Nwanze, Vice-President of IFAD and Philippe J. Lhuillier, Philippines Ambassador to Italy, in the presence of Arthur C. Yap, Secretary of Agriculture of the Republic of the Philippines.

The project aims to increase the value added of agricultural products that are both organic and environmentally sustainable.

The IFAD loan and grant represents 41% of the total project cost of US$66.44 million. The rest of the financing is made up of loans from the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), together totaling US$20.0 million (30%) and a Government contribution of US$5.43 million (8%).

Contributions from concerned Local Government Units of US$8.85 million represent 13% of the total costs and an in-kind beneficiary contribution equivalent to US$5.03 million represents 8%.

“Programmes and projects financed by IFAD promote innovative approaches to some of the issues that perpetuate rural poverty" said Sana Jatta, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for Philippines.

"Key innovative features of IFAD operations in the Philippines focus on securing access to land in ancestral domains for indigenous peoples and on helping indigenous cultural communities achieve better management of the natural resources while being rewarded for such services they render to the larger community” he said.

The project will benefit more than 12,500 households or 34% of the local population. The communities will build grass-roots organizations to improve sustainable livelihoods.

The participatory barangay development plans (BDPs) and ancestral domain sustainable development and protection plans (ADSDPPs) include land use and watershed management schemes which draw on indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP).

Target communities will apply for certificates for ancestral domain title and certificates of ancestral land title to obtain rights over their ancestral lands. Community groups will rehabilitate, construct and maintain rural infrastructure and facilities essential for promoting transportation, agricultural production and livelihood enterprises.

The project will focus on increasing the household income of poor farmers through sustainable agricultural development; enhancing the quality of life of targeted communities by improving land tenure security, food security and watershed conservation.

With this project, IFAD has supported 11 programmes and projects in the Philippines with loans and grants worth around US$153.0 million.

---

IFAD was created 30 years ago to tackle rural poverty, a key consequence of the droughts and famines of the early 1970s. Since 1978, IFAD has invested more than US$10 billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped over 300 million very poor rural women and men increase their incomes and provide for their families. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It is a global partnership of OECD, OPEC and other developing countries. Today, IFAD supports more than 200 programmes and projects in 81 developing countries and one territory.