- During the first quarter of fiscal 2009 (April to June), JICA (President Sadako Ogata) signed a total of 46 grant agreements.
Key details of two of the major projects are provided below. A complete list of the first quarter grant agreements is provided in the appendix.
2. The Philippine government has set poverty reduction as an important element in their mid-term development plan. As a key part of their policy on poverty reduction, they are implementing regional agricultural land reforms to improve the lives of small farm owners and tenant farmers. To provide support for this policy, JICA is carrying out the Project for Bridge Construction for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities Development under an agreement providing 610 million yen in grant assistance. The aim of the project is to successfully add to the efforts toward alleviating poverty and correcting disparities in regions where the farmland reforms are being put into effect. One such area is Aurora Province, where river flooding halts transportation. Construction of the Bazal Bridge, approximately 110 meters in length, will be carried out along with some 420 meters of roadway work on both banks to prevent isolation of the surrounding communities. In addition ensuring villages are not isolated when water levels are high, the bridge crossing will take less than one-twentieth of the time required for vehicles to pass over the riverbed during normal water levels, a dramatic time saving expected to facilitate the transportation of agricultural investment supplies and equipment as well as promote agricultural business and other rural development. Combined with the improved access to target agrarian reform communities provided by the basic infrastructure assistance through ODA Loans under Agrarian Reform Infrastracture Support Project I~III initiated in 1995, the current project is expected to result in synergistic development in the region overall.
3. In the Nyando River Basin of Kenya, more than 3000 hectares of agrarian land are submerged each year due to flooding, leaving more than ten thousand people in distress. Climate change is predicted to further increase the number of days with rainfall, for an increase of at least 50 mm of rain per year, which may further increase the flood damage. With Kenya joining Japan's Cool Earth Partnership in October 2008, JICA is implementing the Programme for Community-Based Flood Disaster Management to Adapt to Climate Change in the Nyando River Basin under a grant agreement for 483 million yen as a measure to adapt to climate change. Targeting 24 villages in Kisumu and Nynando Districts, where the poverty rate is highest among the Nynado River Basin and the impact of flooding is particularly devastating due to agriculture being the primary industry, the program will cover a number of activities. These include the construction of a dam and pedestrian bridge to ensure an escape route when disaster breaks out as well as the creation of an evacuation site that includes a gathering area, a warehouse and washing facilities. Also planned is a project whereby residents create a hazard map to develop a flood management system. As the target resident population of some twenty thousand people participate in disaster prevention activities, improving the local capacity to prevent disasters, it is expected that floods will be better managed, contributing to sustained economic growth and the alleviation of poverty.