Impact Evaluation of the Diversified Farm Income and Farm Management Project

Description

The Diversified Farm Income and Market Development Project (DFIMDP) was implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in four (4) focus areas namely Region 10 (Bukidnon), Region 7 (Cebu and Negros Oriental), Region 6 (Iloilo and Panay Island), and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) from October 1, 2004 to June 30, 2009. This was in line with the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 which aims to modernize the Philippine agriculture towards agricultural competitiveness and increase in rural income (World Bank, 2010).

The DFIMDP has five (5) components: (a) Support for market development services; (b) Market development investments; (c) Strengthening of safety and quality assurance systems for market development; (d) Market-linked technology development and dissemination; and (e) Enhancing budget resource allocation and planning. The beneficiaries of the project were composed of the clients of DA, local government units (LGUs), and private service providers including the farmers, farmer organizations and cooperatives, agro-processors, traders and exporters.

The All-Asian Centre for Enterprise Development (ASCEND) Inc. was commissioned by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region Office VI to conduct an impact evaluation study (IES) of DFIMDP implemented in Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Iloilo. The objective of the IES was to examine how DFIMDP (a) affected rural household income; (b) improved marketing of agriculture and fisheries products through various market-oriented products; (c) supported market development and competitiveness of farmers and fishermen; and (d) capacitated DA-RFU VI in the delivery of market-oriented and productivity-enhancing services.