TO help strengthen the country’s major export commodities, Ifex Philippines will launch on its first day the Rural Agro-Enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and Growth (RAPID Growth) project, which is led by the DTI-Resource Generation and Management Service (RGMS) and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad).
An upscaling of the successful Rural Microenterprise Promotion Program (RuMEPP), RAPID Growth is a P3.7-billion project that aims to propel agriculture-based processing enterprises and entrepreneurial communities to become innovative, productive and competitive so that they will be capacitated to meet the challenges of the global market.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said RAPID Growth will primarily target four agricultural value chains, namely, cocoa, coffee, processed fruits and nuts, and coconut.
“These four commodities have lucrative markets, social features and have the potential to provide sustained economic benefits to small farmers and enterprises,” Lopez said.
The project is set to target small farmers and micro-entrepreneurs engaged within the selected commodity chains, further targeting unemployed and underemployed rural women and men. Special focus will be on women, youth and indigenous people. It is set to be initially implemented in six regions, which are Regions 8 to 13 with 20 target provinces.
“In order to serve as models, four pilot provinces were chosen for each of the priority sectors from among the 20. These provinces are Leyte for its coco coir, Bukidnon for coffee, Davao del Norte for cacao and Agusan del Sur for calamansi,” Lopez said.
The RAPID Growth Project was proposed to directly address policy commitments of the Philippine government aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are of high relevance in eliminating poverty and reducing inequality.
Anchored in the government’s “Pagbabago” pillar, this project seeks to address the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 target outcomes, which are expanding economic opportunities and increasing access to economic opportunities, including smallholder farmers and fisherfolks.
Likewise, through this project, the DTI is set to prioritize the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as a key pillar of its economic program.
“Various products that are harvested or manufactured by local MSMEs have a huge potential in the export market. The launch of this project in Ifex Philippines shall help shed a light on these products as it elevates the emerging local entrepreneurs and farmer groups,” Lopez added.