Minister Shinsuke Shimizu, Head of Chancery of the Embassy of Japan, will attend the turnover ceremony of “The Project for Providing Agricultural Relief Assi s tance to Typhoon Victims in Northern Luzon” on January 26, 2011 in the Municipality of Tublay, Benguet. The ceremony will also be witnessed by Benguet Provincial Governor Nestor Fongwan, Tublay Municipal Mayor Ruben Paoad, and Ms. Mariko Sorimachi, Executive Director of Cordillera Green Network, Inc.
The project was funded through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) with a grant of US$ 105,270 (approximately 4.5 million pesos). It aims to provide agricultural inputs and equipment including seeds of vegetable, rice, and corn, fertilizers and plastic sheets and black nets to the 1,574 farmers who were seriously affected by Typhoon Juan (international name Megi) last October, 2010.
The agricultural relief items have been distributed in 13 barangays of the Provinces of Benguet and Kalinga in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and six (6) barangays of the Provinces of Isabela and Cagayan in Region II.
While around 460,168 individuals (115,563 families) in Regions I, II, III and CAR were affected by Typhoon Juan, most of them are heavily dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the damages to the agriculture sector in Northern Luzon amounted to 8.22 billion pesos, which have raised serious concern about sustainability of agricultural yields in the affected communities.
Under these circumstances, the Cordillera Green Network, Inc., a non-stock and non-profit organization, sought the assistance from the Embassy of Japan so that they can support the farmers who lack the capital in replanting their destroyed crops and reviving their livelihoods. Japan believes that this project will not only strengthen friendship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines but also contribute to fostering a strategic partnership between the two countries towards the future.
Japan, as the top donor of the official development assistance for the Philippines, launched GGP in the Philippines in 1989 for the purpose of reducing poverty and helping various communities engaged in grassroots activities. As of March 2010, 434 grassroots projects funded by GGP – ranging from roughly 1 to 4 million pesos – have been implemented by NGOs, local government units and other non-profit organizations. The total grant for these projects so far amounts to US$ 18,982,775.
