ADB PROVIDES LOANS TO SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES

BANGKOK, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB), with support from the OPEC Fund and the Philippine government, is embarking on a fresh loan project worth close to US$140 million to improve the lives and incomes of more than 150,000 poor farmers in southern Philippines, including six provinces in the autonomous region of Muslim Mindanao.

ADB said funding would come from a loan of US$70 million from ADB's
ordinary capital resources (OCR) and an additional US$30 million to be sourced
from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for
International Development (OFID), which is administered by ADB.

The Philippine government would contribute US$52.4 million and local
government units, US$56 million, the Manila-based bank said in a statement
Monday.

It said that the Agrarian Reform Communities Project II (ACRP II) would
allocate US$135.2 million for rural infrastructure projects and US$25.2 million
for agriculture and enterprise development while the remaining funds would be
used for capacity building, project implementation management, and
contingencies.

The ARCP II will build on the momentum created by the success of ARCP,
approved in 1998, which assisted 165 agrarian reform communities in 35
provinces.

Manoshi Mitra, senior social development specialist at ADB's Southeast Asia
Department, said around a third of the target beneficiaries are expected to be
lifted out of poverty.

"The project will substantially expand the rural production base by
assisting the poor to break out of subsistence farming, to diversify their
livelihood activities, to raise production and distribution efficiencies, to
improve their market position, and to provide employment opportunities for
landless households," he said.

The project will target capacity building for organisations of agrarian
reform beneficiaries and local government units, improve rural infrastructure
and distribution networks, including farm-to-market roads, bridges, small-scale
irrigation systems, post-harvest facilities, and widen the access of target
communities to social infrastructure such as potable water supply systems and
other community facilities.

ADB said the funding would also provide technology and extension support to
assist farmers boost the productivity of their crops, as well as partner with
micro-finance institutions and non-government organisations to develop new
agri-enterprises and markets.