THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) is developing a food voucher program in the Philippines as part of global initiatives to combat food insecurity heightened by the war in Eastern Europe.
In the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) Action Plan to Address Food Insecurity, multilateral development institutions outlined their projects and operations that would help ensure that acute and chronic food insecurity, especially in light of the war in Eastern Europe, is addressed.
These institutions included the ADB, African Development Bank (AfDB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
“As a part of the Philippine Policy-based lending project, Competitive and Inclusive agriculture development program [$400 million], ADB will help the government tackle food insecurity by developing a food voucher program for pregnant and lactating women and their children to improve their access to diverse and healthy nutrition sources,” the action plan stated.
The food voucher program, which has yet to officially receive a project name, is still being prepared, according to the ADB. Sources in the bank said the project may be designed as a technical assistance project rather than a project or program loan.
ADB documents showed that a $400-million Competitive and Inclusive agriculture development program is already closed.
The project was approved in August 2020 and was closed in November 2020. The original closing date for the project, however, was August 2021.
The project intended “to support reforms by the Philippine government aimed at raising the productivity and competitiveness of the country’s agriculture sector and significantly reducing poverty in rural areas.”
Meanwhile, apart from the food vouchers, ADB has realigned its existing projects to support the current needs of developing member countries (DMCs) in developing agriculture value chains and enhancing agricultural competitiveness in and beyond the region.
This included the $100.4-million Mindanao Agro-Enterprise Development Project in the Philippines and providing direct agribusiness lending for staple food working capital and liquidity.
This targeted nearly 300,000 smallholder farmers in 15 DMCs with significant food security needs. Some $420 million was provided to countries like the Philippines, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Lao PDR, among others.
ADB has earmarked lending support to financial institutions to support approximately 30,000 food and agriculture MSME borrowers in seven DMCs. Some $110 million will be provided in 2022 for Cambodia, Georgia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Uzbekistan.
“ADB will use existing as well as upcoming trust funds [such as OPEC trust fund, under processing, with funding to be determined] to provide immediate financial support to agribusiness across the Asia region, provide emergency assistance to countries that have been hard hit by the crisis [i.e., Sri Lanka, Mongolia] and support interventions to strengthen the agriculture value chain, particularly in countries that have been seriously affected by the crisis,” the action plan stated.
Further, in 2022, ADB and the World Food Program (WFP) have launched projects in Afghanistan and the Philippines and are in the process of finalizing another project in Myanmar.
For its Sustaining Essential Services Delivery Project (Support for Afghan People), ADB is providing direct financing to FAO, UNDP, UNICEF and WFP for immediate humanitarian support in response to the unprecedented crisis and to help sustain the country’s human development.
The action plan also contained information stating that the WFP has received $135 million to enable the provision of emergency food to over 800,000 people. Around 168,000 people will be covered under asset creation and livelihood activities.
Apart from the ADB, the World Bank Group said new food security-related operations are being prepared across regions, including in the Philippines.
The Washington-based lender also said that apart from the Philippines, they are including in these operations Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Albania, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Indonesia, among others.