The Solar Power Technology Support (SPOTS2) Project Phase II is an expansion of the gains achieved in the first phase. Similar to Phase 1, this project is an integrated social and agricultural development support project of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to the Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) targeting 44 ARCs. It is funded by the Spanish Government through the 1997 RP-Spain MOU on financial cooperation. The project, as originally designed, will complement PGMA's 10-Point Agenda, notably the electrification of the villages in the country, access to basic services such as clean water supply, improvement in health and education, and the provision of sustainable livelihoods. It will be using photovoltaic energy systems as the enabling technology and entry point in the introduction of other components such as agricultural and rural enterprise development including capacity building.

SPOTS will maintain its multi-agency approach with the Department of Agrarian Reform as the lead agency and prime mover for agricultural, rural enterprise and institutional development, with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) as co-implementing agencies responsible for the technical aspects of the project including the identification and validation of sites in coordination with NEA’s rural electric cooperatives.view our project objecetive tree

Phase 1 of the SPOTS Project covered 16 Provinces in Mindanao.

GOALS and OBJECTIVES

• Address rural poverty in the un-energized and off-grid ARCs by targeting specific photovoltaic (PV) application;
• Increase agricultural productivity and promote livelihood;
• Empower local communities and farmer's organizations in the selected ARCs; and
• Apply solar energy technology as the enabling technology for sustainable development.

MAJOR COMPONENTS

The SPOTS project has three major components;

1. Agriculture/Rural Enterprise Development

   This component represents technical assistance and management support for agricultural development including the introduction of appropriate agricultural technologies, farm and rural enterprise business planning and advisory services, identification and implementation of partnerships with agribusiness enterprises, enterprise development training, market linkaging and assistance to facilitate credit access from various fund sources. The primary objective is to provide oppurtunities for increased farm productivity and augment household incomes from the development of agribusiness and non-farm related rural enterprises.

2. Solar Electrification

   The project will provide various solar packages that can supply the energy needs of (1) for agricultural productivity and agribusiness. (2) community facilitates such as health center , barangay hall, potable water supply, improvement/development and school building and (3) households for lighting and household based livelihood activities.

3. Institutional Development

   The project will build the capacity people's organizations in managing not only the solar energy systems but also the agriculture and rural enterprise development components of the project. This will involve an empowering process of capacity building to ensure effective and organized community and beneficiary participation at all phases of implementation. The project will also be concerned in building the capacity of DAR staff and local government units (LGUs).

PROJECT SITES/BENEFICIARIES

This Phase will cover 44 ARCs potentially located in five regions in Mindanao, distributed in 15 provinces. About 55,000 households in 150 barangays and sitios are expected to benefit from this Phase of the project.

PROJECT FINANCING

Below shows the project cost of SPOTS 2

IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE