Access roads in Bukidnon upland farms need improvement. In most cases concreting or filling of gravel on roads is a necessity for the farms to be accessible. The movement of crops from the farm to the market is one of the struggles of the farmers and the local communities due to the road condition. It takes time and a huge effort to transport goods because some areas are not accessible to 4-wheel vehicles. The mode of transportation is either habal-habal or through the use of animals such as horses or carabao which makes it expensive.

Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP) has three subprojects. One of which is the Rural Infrastructure, it rehabilitates farm-to-market access roads which pave the way especially to the upland farmers for accessible transportation of crops resulting to cheaper hauling cost.

In Bukidnon Upper River Basin (BURB), 12 Local Government Units (LGUs) partner on the said subproject. To name a few, the partnered LGUs are Kibawe, Sumilao, and Valencia City. Overall there are 13 access road rehabilitations situated on the nearby Natural Resource Management sites of INREMP. The 80 percent of the total project cost of every RI subproject sites is covered by INREMP, and the remaining 20 percent covered by the partner LGUs. To date, four of the 13 RI subproject sites are complete, five are scheduled for turn-over by the third and fourth quarters of this year, and the remaining four will be turned-over the following year.

INREMP is a foreign-funded project and one of the banner programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It has three subprojects namely; 1) Natural Resource Management to rehabilitate the denuded watershed areas, 2) Livelihood Enhancement Support to upkeep the crops production and enhance the People’s Organizations’ existing commodities, and 3) Rural Infrastructure. These subprojects improve our forests conditions and provide the upland communities a long term sustainable source of income. The INREM Project and other organizations provided skills training to the partner people’s organizations related to farming to boost their income and protect our forests.

With the rehabilitated access roads, farmers can now transport their goods with lesser travel and hauling expenses. The local community, businessmen, and tourists can easily access the nearby NRM sites of our partnered People’s Organizations. Jayson M. Ligtas #TayoAngKalikasan