At least five million farmers in the Philippines are expected to benefit from a new initiative aimed at boosting agricultural productivity, promoting diversification, and enhancing the climate resilience of agrifood systems. The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved funding for the Philippines Sustainable Agricultural Transformation Project (PSAT) to support sector-wide reforms that modernize farming practices, strengthen food and nutrition security, and create jobs. The program emphasizes policies, systems, and partnerships to make agriculture more productive, competitive, and climate-smart, helping farmers earn more and withstand climate shocks.
PSAT focuses on rice-based farming by promoting climate-smart practices such as improved seed and nutrient management, water-saving techniques, greenhouse-gas reduction, and post-harvest loss mitigation. These measures are critical in a country prone to typhoons and floods, where rice dominates the cropped area. By encouraging commercialization, productivity, and private sector investment, the initiative also aims to create jobs and foster a more inclusive agrifood sector.
The project supports diversification into vegetables, fruits, livestock, and aquaculture while improving market access and modernizing logistics. Mechanized farming through farmer cooperatives and associations will drive rural business growth and economies of scale. A new digital voucher system will deliver farm inputs more efficiently, linking public spending to measurable improvements in yields and incomes. PSAT will also expand agrifood exports by improving access to high-value crops and export certification laboratories, while modernizing the Department of Agriculture through better budgeting, data management, and procurement practices.
The initiative is designed to deliver tangible benefits for both farmers and consumers. Higher incomes will result from better seeds, increased mechanization, efficient fertilizer use, crop diversification, improved climate resilience, reduced post-harvest losses, and growth in agrifood exports. The World Bank has committed US$1 billion to PSAT through a Program-for-Results (PforR) operation, linking disbursements directly to the achievement of pre-agreed results in government-led development programs.
