Agriculture department hiring for rural dev’t project

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking to hire technical staff for a major rural development program funded by the World Bank.

The Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), with funding of P27.4 billion ($614 million), needs people to fill the following positions: 

• Business Development Specialist
• Enterprise Development and Marketing Specialist
• Business Development Officer

Those hired for these positions will be tasked to help train PRDP beneficiaries, develop plans for agribusiness, provide technical support and guidance to regional staff, and help in developing marketing plans.

Those interested in the positions can visit the PRDP website to find out about the application process and requirements. 

The PRDP aims to bring wealth to the countryside by supporting value chains of key agricultural commodities in agricultural provinces. 

It hopes to directly benefit around two million farmers by building sorely needed infrastructure and encourage rural enterprises.

Specifically, it aims to build farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities, fishery-related infrastructure, and communal irrigation systems. Such facilities, said the DA, will lower expenses of farmers and fisherfolk, allowing them to earn better from agriculture or fisheries. 

The funding for the project comes from a World Bank loan, national government, and local government units.

PRDP has so far allocated P23.96 billion for sub-projects focused on infrastructure, production, marketing and the processing of assistance requests in rural areas.

The DA has approved projects proposed by LGUs amounting to P5.3 billion, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Another aspect of the PRDP is to ask LGUs to submit business plans for investing in priority commodities in their city, province, or town.

For instance, Davao City is crafting a commodity investment plan for cacao.  

PRDP Director Emerson Palad said the DA plans to request more funds from the World Bank due to growing requests from LGUs.

Last March, World Bank Task Team Leader Carolina Geron lauded the progress gained by the project.

“With just two months, the project has already mobilized implementing units which resulted in a substantial pipeline,” she said.

Months before, the World Bank team went around North and South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to review the preparation of sub-projects under the PRDP.

They also assessed the readiness of both the DA regional office and LGUs executing the projects. – Pia Ranada/Rappler.com

Rice harvest in the Philippines image from Shutterstock