By
Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA
CITY - The Department of Agriculture (DA) here reveals that
P300 million has been earmarked for the implementation of irrigation,
farm-to-market roads, farmers’ capability-building trainings and other
agriculture-related projects in region 9 for the year 2014. But P30 million is
allotted for this city alone.
Ramon
Raul Bucoy, the Agriculture Production Center Officer of DA-9 said in a press
conference held Wednesday at the Grand Astoria Hotel that these projects would
be implemented through the national government’s Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB)
process in which community, city and municipal stakeholders including the
residents, civil society groups and other sectors are directly consulted on the
identification of the priority projects.
In 2013,
Zamboanga City received a total of P15 million for the BUB, mostly for
irrigation projects.
Under
the BUB, local people’s organizations such as farmers and fisher folks are
consulted on their problems, needs and situation. As proof of the participatory
process, the list of priority projects must be signed by representatives of
such organizations, which will eventually be endorsed to the appropriate
agency.
The BUB
is being implemented jointly by the DA and other agencies under the Human
Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster, the Good Governance and
Anti-Corruption Cluster and the Economic Development Cluster. Its aim is to
reduce the country’s poverty incidence to 16.6 percent by 2015, from 26.5
percent in 2009.
Bucoy
said that “since the stakeholders themselves helped in identifying these
projects under the BUB, we are ensured that these will indeed have a positive
effect on their communities, particularly on enhancing their income and
productivity as farmers.” (PIA9)