Japan, FAO, MAFAR hold sustainability workshop in BARMM

Japan Embassy's First Secretary and Agriculture Attaché Jumpei Tachikawa attended on March 12 the After-Action Review and Sustainability Workshop in Davao City. The event is a pre-cursor to the culmination of the JPY 200 million Japan-funded project for sustaining rice and corn production in BARMM through the provision and efficient use of fertilizers amidst the global impacts of Ukraine war.

The current Russia-Ukraine war has caused food, fertilizer, and fuel costs to rise in several countries, including the Philippines. This includes the global fertilizer shortage, as Russia is among its biggest exporters. While the Philippines does not directly import fertilizer from Russia, it is equally affected by rising fertilizer costs induced by the shortage as a net importer of fertilizer. This is especially true for BARMM, which is already struggling with high poverty rates, low rice and corn output, and rising farm input costs.