ADB Approves $500 Million Loan to Strengthen Philippine Agriculture Sector

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $500 million loan to support the Philippine government in its efforts to expand economic opportunities in agriculture and ensure food security for its population. The loan will support the second subprogram of the Competitive and Inclusive Agriculture Development Program, which aims to further develop the agriculture sector through trade policy and regulatory reforms, enhance public services and finance for the sector, and provide social protection for rural families affected by the program's reforms.

The loan aims to address the struggles faced by the agriculture sector due to extreme climate events and economic shocks, and build a competitive and inclusive sector that is characterized by improved efficiency, enhanced diversity, strengthened climate resilience, and higher farm incomes. The loan will promote new government initiatives, including cash transfers to smallholder rice farmers and concessional loans to agriculture and fishery-based micro and small enterprises and smallholder farmers and fisherfolk under Covid-19 recovery and other credit assistance programs.

In addition, the loan will support the government in enhancing the planning and management of land use and water resources, financing the competitiveness of the country's rice industry, and strengthening government assistance to the agriculture sector. ADB has a long history of engagement in the Philippine agriculture sector and is committed to making the sector more resilient through projects such as the Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project, Mindanao Irrigation Development Project, and Mindanao Agro-Enterprise Development Project. Policy-based loans are provided by ADB as development financing in the national budget to support the government's policy reform agenda.