ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service’s (USDA/FAS) Food for Progress recently launched a project called the “Philippines Cold Chain Project (PCCP)” to help Filipino farmers earn more income by increasing productivity and food safety while reducing losses.
Held Feb. 7, the project will be implemented in the Caraga Region. Caraga, which has Butuan City as regional center, is composed of the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, the cities of Butuan, Cabadbaran, Bayugan, Surigao, Tandag and Bislig, and 67 municipalities and 1,308 barangays.
A news release from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Manila said the project launch at the Embassy included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among the USDA, implementing partner Winrock International, and five provincial governors of the Caraga Region of Mindanao. Over the course of the four-year project, PCCP is expected to impact 979,000 people directly.
One of the project partners, Winrock International, said in the press report that the Caraga Region and its five provinces are a future breadbasket for the Philippines, specifically because of their ability to supply urban centers like Manila or Cebu. The region is blessed with abundant resources, fertile lands, and diverse and attractive ecotourism sites, yet Caraga remains one of the poorest regions in the country.
The press report further said that PCCP will work with horticulture, meat, and fish sectors that can benefit from a cold chain, or temperature-controlled, supply system. Building effective cold chains makes it easier to produce safer food, and safer food means an increase in income for farmers and improved nutrition for families. Higher-quality, higher-value agricultural products will be able to compete in new markets as businesses and consumers demand products meeting international-quality standards. Educating producers about clean, well-preserved food, moreover, means families will not be debilitated by preventable illness.
Upon its completion, PCCP is expected to bring important economic gains to the Caraga Region and be an example for future growth in the Philippines, the press report added.
