BENGUET, Philippines – Members of the Austrian Trade Commissioner Office in the Philippines visited on March 10 the pilot project site of the Improving Productivity in Agriculture through Climate-Smart Technology in the Philippines (ImPACT Philippines) Project in the municipality of Buguias in the north of the Philippines.
ImPACT is a PPP project under DEG and it is co-financed by Pessl Instruments, a company based in Austria.
The Embassy delegation from ‘Advantage Austria’ was composed of Christina Stieber, Commercial Counsellor; JoAnne Tolentino, Commercial Officer; and, Tess Francisco-Floedl, Executive Assistant to the Sector Manager – F&B, Agriculture. They were accompanied by Lalaine Alfaro, ImPACT Program Manager; Lukas Rieck, ASSIST Partnerships Senior Associate; and, Nihal Ahamed, ASSIST Social Actions Associate. The team went to sites where the weather stations are installed, namely Natubleng, Lengaoan, and Bangao.
“We’ve not only learned so much about the challenges farmers in Buguias are facing on a daily basis but were also thrilled to see how Austrian technology, with the help of an energetic team, can make a difference,” Stieber said.
The visitors were briefed on how the system works and how it has introduced to the beneficiaries the science and advantages of climate-smart farming.
Because of what they saw, the team was already looking at possible areas of future collaborations related to the project, such as knowledge exchange program for young farmers, among others.
