IFAD photo by Louis Dematteis Philippines - Visayas Communal Irrigation and Participatory Project Farmers clearing irrigation canals in Bulak, on Cebu Island. The project has enabled 30 farming households participating in the Bulak Communal Irrigation System to replace their annual rainfed maize crop with two crops per year of irrigated rice, each bringing in a 40 per cent revenue increase.

Project area. The project will be implemented in 37 municipalities and 170 barangays (villages) in all six provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province). This landlocked and mountainous region is characterized by low levels of economic and social development, and is further isolated by poor infrastructure.

Target group. The target group consists mostly of indigenous households, belonging to various tribes, who live in mountainous areas and whose main economic activity is agriculture. Poverty rates in the target area exceed 50 per cent and are significantly higher than in the lowlands of the Cordillera Administrative Region and the other regions of Luzon. The project will reach about 94,130 of the estimated 190,000 inhabitants (or 36,300 households) of the target area. However, as some of these people will participate in several project activities, an estimated 12,530 households will actually benefit from the project.

Project objectives. The project's goal is to reduce the poverty levels and improve the livelihoods of poor rural women and men in indigenous communities in the upland areas of the Cordillera Administrative Region. Its specific objectives are to: (i) increase the household income of poor farmers through sustainable agricultural development; and (ii) enhance the quality of life of targeted communities by improving land tenure security, food security and watershed conservation.

Project description. The project will have five integrated components:

• Community mobilization, participatory planning of investments, and land titling. The project will empower targeted indigenous communities and other project stakeholders, including local government units and traditional organizations, by developing their capacity to formulate, monitor and evaluate participatory investment plans for community watershed management, agriculture, rural infrastructure, agribusinesses and income generation. Specific project activities will include community mobilization, participatory project investment planning, participatory monitoring and evaluation, the facilitation of ancestral domain titling, and advisory services.

• Community watershed conservation, forest management and agroforestry development. This component will support community watershed conservation and reforestation, the promotion of agroforestry and the development of innovative watershed conservation mechanisms.

• Agricultural and agribusiness development, and promotion of income-generating activities. The focus of this component will be the promotion of agri-businesses and marketing, agricultural support services, microfinance and income-generating activities, small rural enterprise development, and consulting services and staff training.

• Rural infrastructure development. The project will support communities and local government units in improving rural infrastructure essential for the promotion of agricultural production and rural livelihood enterprises. Infrastructure to be rehabilitated or constructed will be determined through participatory investment plans, with priority given to infrastructure that community groups can properly maintain.

• Project management and coordination. Project management structures, to be established and operated at regional, provincial, municipal and barangay levels, will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation, capacity strengthening, and the documentation and dissemination of best practices.

IFAD photo by Louis Dematteis Philippines - Visayas Communal Irrigation and Participatory Project Vendors selling produce at the vegetable market in Mantalongon, a town on Cebu Island. Agriculture remains the foundation of the Philippine economy, accounting for almost half of total employment.

Important features. The project builds on the innovative features of the first Cordillera project. These include: (i) participatory approaches to community-level development planning and natural resource management; (ii) support for ancestral domain/land titling; (iii) identification and documentation of best practices in applying indigenous knowledge systems and practices; (iv) effective use of broadcast media for reaching remote areas; and (v) involvement of local provincial units as implementing agencies for rural infrastructure. In addition, the project introduces new forms of innovation by: (i) combining support for the adoption of improved indigenous knowledge systems and practices with commercialization of indigenous peoples' products through appropriate value chain development and market linkages; (ii) sharpening the focus on results by strengthening participatory monitoring and evaluation systems; (iii) strengthening the capacity of indigenous peoples and their councils of elders to assume responsibility for forest management in accordance with the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act; and (iv) empowering municipalities to authorize project disbursements to implementing agencies.

Cofinanciers. Cofinancing will be provided by the Asian Development Bank (US$10.0 million) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (US$10.0 million).