PHL climate-resilient agri project receives $26.2 million in funding

THE PHILIPPINES will receive $26.2 million worth of international funding for a seven-year project to help climate-vulnerable rural smallholder farmers become more resilient against climate change.

The Philippine proposal was one of two approved for funding in Southeast Asia by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) at its board meeting.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific said the grant will be supplemented by $12.9 million in co-financing by the Department of Agriculture and the government weather service, known as PAGASA.

The project is expected to benefit 1.25 million farmers who will be instructed in climate-resilient farming practices, risk reduction measures and enterprise development, as well as granted access to finance and technology.

“We are truly grateful to GCF for supporting this important and timely initiative that will help Filipino smallholder farmers adapt to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis on their livelihood,” the FAO Representative in the Philippines, Lionel Dabbadie said.

The GCF also approved $43 million for a six-year project in Cambodia benefiting 450,000 smallholder farmers in the Northern Tonle Sap Basin — Cambodia’s top agricultural region.

“These two most recently approved projects by the GCF in Southeast Asia are emblematic of the trust placed in FAO’s work to deliver with, and on behalf of, our member nations in this region,” FAO Assistant Director-General Jong-Jin Kim said.