The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has completed the first foreign-funded farm-to-market road (FMR) under the Rural Agro-Enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and Growth (RAPID Growth) project in Jaro, Leyte.

The road rehabilitation project is expected to boost the coconut industry in several villages in Jaro town, empowering 833 farmers in the provinces, said DTI Eastern Visayas regional director Celerina Bato.

“The realization of the FMR project will ease the access and transport of raw materials from the farmers to the market and reduce travel time and transportation expenses of the farmers and micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which would entail enhanced income,” Bato told the Philippine News Agency on Monday.

The rehabilitation and improvement of the two-kilometer Tinambacan FMR in Jaro town, according to Bato, is the first FMR project in Eastern Visayas and in the entire Philippines to kickstart its implementation among other RAPID Growth-implementing regions.

The PHP30-million project, which started in June 2022, is now substantially completed and up for turnover to the local government next month, according to Bato.

The road rehabilitation is in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the local government of Jaro.

The road benefits the villages of Tinambacan, Uguiao, Rubas-Crossing, Pitogo, Daro, Kalinawan, and Canapuan in Jaro town.

The project is part of the PHP2.3 billion initiative funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

RAPID Growth aims to propel agriculture-based processing enterprises and entrepreneurial communities to become innovative, productive, and competitive so they would be able to meet global challenges and demands. (PNA)