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U.S. Provides $20 Million to Benefit Agriculture, Farmers, and Families in the Philippines

At a July 14 ceremony at the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney signed an agreement with Department of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves to provide $20 million worth of agricultural products to the Philippine Government under the "PL 480" program, which is part of the American people's enhanced food aid and agricultural development program. Here, Secretary Teves and Ambassador Kenney exchange signed copies of the agreement, which will benefit thousands of Filipino farmers, livestock raisers, and agricultural scientists.
Department of Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban; Department of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves; Ambassador Kristie Kenney; and Dennis Voboril, U.S. Department of Agriculture attaché are pictured at a July 14 ceremony to sign a "PL 480" agreement, which is part of the American people's enhanced food aid and agricultural development program. "PL 480 is a program where our two countries design together how we use these funds, and the results here in the Philippines are particularly impressive because they really do range from things that help individual farmers get products to market all the way to very sophisticated bio-technology research," said Ambassador Kenney.
UP-Los Banos' Chancellor Dr. Luis Rey Velasco hosted Ambassador Kenney during her July 14 visit to the university, where she signed a $20 million agricultural development agreement with the Philippine Government that will help the small Filipino farmer by providing him better and more options in his day-to-day farming activities - and thousands of Filipinos will have healthier and more affordable food on their tables. During her visit to UP-Los Banos, Ambassador Kenney also met with alumni of the U.S. Agricultural Fulbright Program and toured the campus, including stops at the Post-Harvest Research Center to view research and projects that are supported by funds from the American people.
Ambassador Kenney looks at exhibits at UP-Los Banos' Institute for Plant Breeding, where she signed an agreement to provide $20 million worth of agricultural products to the Philippine Government under a U.S. food aid and agricultural development program. Signing on behalf of the Philippine Government were Department of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and Department of Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban. The Institute for Plant Breeding conducts papaya research that is partially funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
At a ceremony to sign a $20 million agreement between the U.S. and Philippine Governments for agricultural development, Ambassador Kristie Kenney (third from right) poses at a papaya greenhouse on the UP-Los Banos campus with (from left) Dr. Desiree Hautea, Director, UP-Los Banos' Institute for Plant Breeding; UP-Los Banos' Chancellor Dr. Luis Rey Velasco; Department of Finance Secretary Margarito Teves; Department of Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban; and Dennis Voboril, U.S. Department of Agriculture attaché. The "PL 480" agricultural development agreement provides for 69,000 metric tons of rice valued at $20 million to be sold on concessional credit terms to the Philippine Government, which will in turn sell the products and use the proceeds for agricultural development that will benefit thousands of Filipino farmers, livestock raisers, and agricultural scientists.
Ambassador Kenney tours the Post-Harvest Research Center (PHRC) at UP-Los Banos with PHRC Director Dr. Edralina Serrano. The PHRC benefits from a $2 million grant from the American people for mango research that will lead to expanded mango exports from the Philippines.
Ambassador Kenney poses with the staff of the Post-Harvest Research Center at UP-Los Banos, which she visited on July 14. Ambassador Kenney was at the university to sign an agreement to provide $20 million worth of agricultural products to the Philippine Government under the "PL 480" program, which is part of the American people's enhanced food aid and agricultural development program. "Our two countries share so much in common, and one of the important things is that we're both agricultural countries who have worked historically together to improve all facets of agriculture," said Ambassador Kenney.
Ambassador Kenney meets three Michigan State University exchange students who are studying at UP-Los Banos. "I feel pretty much at home in an agricultural campus," said Ambassador Kenney. "The university I went to in the United States was founded as an agricultural school, and my father-in-law is a cotton farmer in West Texas. And I'm particularly pleased we could [have this ceremony] here at the University of Los Baños because it's a university that was founded with American and Filipino vision and leadership."

Last Update :: 07/14/2006

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