DFA Hosts Signing Ceremony of WFP and FAO Projects Supported by Japan for Farmers and Fisherfolk Hit by Typhoon Odette
Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko and Country Director of WFP Philippines Brenda Barton sign the Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) on 31 August 2022. (DFA-OPCD Philip Adrian Fernandez)
PASAY CITY 01 September 2022 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) hosted the Ceremonial Exchange of Notes between the Japanese Government and the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the DFA Headquarters on 31 August 2022.
The Japanese Government donated US$ 6 million (PHP 337.5 million) to support new initiatives by the FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP) for farmers and fisherfolk affected by Typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The target recipients are approximately 4,000 small-scale coconut farming and fishing households in Regions VII, VIII and XIII, and 7,500 smallholder fisher and farmer families in BARMM.
US$ 4 million (PHP 225 million) will go to WFP to support a two-year project that aims to improve the livelihoods, food security and nutrition of smallholder farmers and fisherfolk and strengthen their inclusion in the agricultural value chain through improved market linkages, and enhanced agricultural productivity. WFP will introduce the farmers to the use of Farm2Go, a WFP-owned digital platform to digitally connect farmers to markets, allowing them to sell their produce at competitive prices.
US$ 2 million (PHP 112.5 million) of the contribution will be used by FAO to implement a humanitarian initiative that will support the restoration of the livelihoods and the enhancement of the resilience of 20,000 small-scale coconut farmers and fishers affected by Typhoon Rai in Regions VII, VIII and XIII.
“Many Japanese people feel the suffering and pain of Filipinos as their own since we are both disaster-prone nations…We strongly hope that this sense of solidarity from [the] Japanese people will reach many Filipinos on the ground,” said H.E. Koshikawa Kazuhiko, Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines.
“The benefits of both projects nourish the country’s long-term socioeconomic well-being and shield the most vulnerable from economic shocks that follow on the heels of both natural and man-made disasters,” said Ms. Noemi T. Diaz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of the United Nations and International Organizations (UNIO), representing Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo.
“Food is a pathway to peace. The linkage between conflict and hunger is undisputed… With the devastating effects of the global food, fuel and fertilizer crisis, which is pushing millions of people across the world to the edges of hunger and desperation, we see Japan once again step forward to help the UN and governments buffer the impact,” remarked WFP Country Representative Brenda Barton.
Japan, WFP, and FAO works closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and the BARMM ministries in implementing both projects.
The Japanese Ambassador signed both MoUs with Ms. Brenda Barton, Country Director of WFP Philippines, and with Ms. Sheila Wertz-Kanounnikoff, Country Representative (ad interim) of FAO Philippines in the presence of representatives from the Philippine Government. END