The Philippines has secured approval for a grant of US$26.3 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to increase the resilience of rural agriculture in climate-vulnerable areas and to transform the country's agriculture sector towards climate resilience.

In a statement, Climate Change Commission (CCC) PH Vice Chair and Executive Director Robert Borje welcomed the decision of the GCF Board to approve the project titled "Adapting Philippine Agriculture to Climate Change (APA)."

The GCF Board approved the project at its 35th Meeting in Songdo, South Korea, from March 13 to 16.

The APA project is a submission by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the Philippines' Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) as lead entities.

According to Borje, the approval is "instrumental in building the capacity of our farming communities, the government, and private sector" and in understanding and managing climate risks and adopting climate resilient agriculture practices.

Domestic resources amounting to US$12.98 million will be used to co-finance the project, putting the total project value at US$39.3 million. The project will cater to at least nine provinces in Regions II, V, X, and XII; and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The project will have three primary outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Increased institutional capacities for the development and provision of climate information and CRA services
• Outcome 2: Farmers adopt CRA through CRA enterprises
• Outcome 3: Enabling Environment for mainstreaming and scaling up CRA
  
  

At least 1.25 million poor farming household members are expected to directly benefit as farmers improve awareness of risks and risk reduction measures and incorporate climate-resilient and low-emission technologies into agricultural practices.

Over 5 million people living in the area will also benefit indirectly from enhanced information systems and strengthened institutional capacity that will create an enabling environment to promote the widespread adoption of CRA.

"High impact, climate-resilient agriculture initiatives, such as the APA, have the potential to significantly contribute to the country's socio-economic development while enhancing adaptive capacities of our agricultural systems to climate change," Borje said.

APA will be implemented this year until 2030 and is expected to reduce 1.86 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over 20 years due to CRA practices and better land use.