PATIN-AY, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur – Officials of the province of Agusan del Sur in the Caraga Region will leave today for the five-day 9th Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network Policy Conference and General Meeting to be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The 2011 PEP conference will feature the developments and findings on global initiatives regarding social protection, monitoring the impacts of global financial crisis, vulnerability mapping and risks assessment, and achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs).

The gathering of officials is organized by the Poverty and Economic Policy Asia-Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Network Office, in partnership with the National Institute of Statistics-Ministry of Planning of Cambodia, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The provincial government said Agusan del Sur Governor Adolph Edward G. Plaza is invited to attend in this big gathering, where two other provincial officials will accompany him in this official trip.

Plaza was invited as one of the presenter during the policymakers forum on how the CBMS has been used as a tool for legislation and evidence-based resource allocation in the province of Agusan del Sur.

“We are proud as one of the presenter, and this conference is also a plus factor in line with our economic agenda in the province and poverty alleviation program,” said Plaza.

In another development, abaca farmers and weavers also in the province of Agusan del Sur got a big boost after the local government unit and the international non-government organization Oxfam agreed to work together for the development of the industry.

Plaza informed the abaca farmers that the Oxfam Mindanao Programme and Integrated Conservation Solutions (ICS) vowed to support them by producing quality planting materials, support services, and production of quality abaca products – primarily abaca fabric.

It was gathered that the projects supported by OxFam and ICS involve product development and marketing of the locally produced abaca fabric.

Plaza said the provincial government is committed to support the development of the abaca industry from the farm level down to the market.

As this developed, Plaza committed to provide about 30 abaca weaving machines to the abaca farmers.

He also said that the development of a 32-kilometer all-weather farm-to-market road worth P126 million is already approved to further enhance the economic activity of the province.

He said this road project will benefit the abaca farmers in this town, in Bayugan City, and the town of Sibagat, including other abaca-producing municipalities in the province.

With this development, ICS is confident that the abaca industry in the province will be more productive in the coming years.

Meanwhile, in order to address the issue of quality abaca planting materials, the Provincial Agriculture Office is set to produce more than 20,000 tissue-cultured planting materials by April, 2012.

In a related development, the Aquino administration is set to implement more than P3 billion worth of infrastructure projects next year in the Caraga Region.

Most of next year’s targeted projects include roads and bridges that will be the vital link for eco-tourism, agriculture, aqua-culture, mining, and wood industries.