LOWERING TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL COSTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
At the time of project approval in 2007, the agriculture sector in the Philippines was constrained by inadequate infrastructure for irrigation and distribution, insufficient access to fertilizers as well as a weak policy environment and little public investment. The sector’s limited compet- itiveness contributed to low farm incomes and high rural poverty.
clinics, schools and daycare centers. Farm-to-market roads were of particular importance as many local communi- ties lacked sufficient access to market centers for selling their goods or purchasing farm supplies. Other activities covered by the project included participatory investment
planning and land titling, community watershed conservation, forest manage- ment, agro-forestry, agriculture and agri- business development. Overall, the project benefited 239,585 individuals, including 121,629 women, 3,663 youth and 222,434 indigenous people. The project completion report
To address these issues, the govern- ment enacted policies to modernize the sector, enhance profitability and meet the challenges of globalization. Among several areas of support, irrigation and farm-to-market roads were prioritized for the development of agriculture and fisheries.
found that CHARMP II achieved its overarching goals of poverty reduction and livelihood improvement of the rural poor. Helped by various project initiatives, aggregate sales and net income for farmers are estimated to have increased by 130 percent and 101 percent, respectively and measures such as access to drinking water significantly improved people’s quality of life. The rural infrastructure compo- nent, co-financed by the OPEC Fund, improved access to agricultural areas, markets, services and drinking water for households across 188 communities through the planning and implementation of 333 sub-projects. Under the rural roads sub-component in particular 45 roads, 19 footpaths and 6 footbridges were constructed. These were found to have cut freight vehicle operating costs per ton per km from 15.25 to 3.79 Philippine pesos (PHP). For passenger transport, the weighted average vehicle oper- ating cost per passenger kilometer was reduced from PHP 2.87 to 0.65. At an average of five monthly trips per passenger per household, this saves households PHP 11.10 per month per km, resulting in significant cost and time savings. The project’s approach of involving communities in iden- tifying and prioritizing interventions based on their needs was found to have been a success factor in the achieve- ment of the operation’s objectives.
Against this backdrop, the government joined forces with development partners to develop and implement initia- tives aiming to strengthen the agriculture sector in the Philippines’ Cordillera highland. In 2007, the OPEC Fund approved a US$10 million loan to cofinance the second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management Projects (CHARMP II) with the International Fund for Agri- cultural Development (IFAD) and the government. Project implementation began in 2009 and was successfully completed in 2017. The primary objective of CHARMP II was to reduce poverty and improve the livelihoods of poor rural women and men in indigenous communities in the highland areas of the Cordillera region. More specifically, the project aimed to (i) increase farm incomes through sustainable agricultural development, and (ii) enhance the quality of life of the rural poor through improving land tenure security, food security and watershed conservation. The OPEC Fund’s financing contributed to the project’s rural infrastructure development component which constructed and rehabilitated farm-to-market roads, community irrigation schemes, domestic water supply systems and other community infrastructure such as
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