Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 24) — The European Union and Philippine government have launched the Bangsamoro Agri-Enterprise Programme (BAEP) and the National Copernicus Capacity Support Action Programme for the Philippines (CopPhil).
The EU and the Philippine government signed two financing agreements for BAEP and CopPhil. These projects starting in 2022 will address “the most pressing needs in the country: disaster preparedness and poverty reduction; and the cycle of vulnerability linking the two,” the EU said in a statement.
EU Ambassador Luc Véron and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez graced and led the launch of BAEP and CopPhil on Wednesday.
The ₱1.14-billion BAEP aims to improve Bangsamoro’s agricultural production to respond better to the needs of the market and to support the transitional administration to formulate a strategy to attract agri-business investments.
The five-year program will help farmers and cooperatives adopt more integrated farming systems using a value chain approach to boost their production capacities, support the establishment of product standard quality systems for halal and sea-aqua products, and open new opportunities for women.
Meanwhile, the three-year CopPhil will have a budget of ₱570 million to support the Philippines’ goal of “developing and leveraging Space Science & Technology applications to strengthen the nation’s resilience to natural disasters and climate change,” the EU said.
The EU also said the program will implement an innovative approach to disaster reduction and climate adaptation through data from the EU Copernicus Earth Observation satellites and ground-based data collection systems. The program will also support Manila’s decision-making and monitoring of policy implementation based on timely and accurate data.
“In the long-term, the programme will contribute to the effective management of the environment and the natural resources of the Philippine ecosystems and improve the resilience of all livelihoods against natural hazards and climate change-related threats,” the EU said.
“The initiative has a high potential to evolve into a global replicable concept transferable to other regions of the world,” the EU added.
The European Space Agency, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Philippine Space Agency will be implementing CopPhil.
BAEP and CopPhil contribute to the EU and Philippines’ commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals to support peace and development, reduce inequality, and fight climate change.
“Understanding how our planet works and in particular how climate change affects it, is vital for sustainable economic growth and food security. Partnerships with an innovative public sector, a competitive business sector, and civil society are critical to success in these areas,” Véron said.
“This assistance from the European Union will support the Duterte administration’s already heightened efforts to boost farm productivity and achieve inclusive growth in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and further strengthen the country’s climate resilience in the face of global warming,” Dominguez said.
