Manila - The European Commission said Sunday it will provide a grant of 6.4 million euros to help strengthen food security in five provinces in the conflictive southern Philippine region of Mindanao.

The EC said the grant would be implemented by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which has been helping thousands of residents displaced by fighting between government forces and Muslim rebels in Mindanao.

It was the second grant to be approved by the EC under its 1-billion-euro food facility set up in December 2008.

"We hope that this will help the Philippines to increase domestic food production and strengthen social safety nets, and in particular to lighten the impact of the food crisis on poor farming communities in Mindanao," EC Ambassador Alistair MacDonald said.

MacDonald said the grant would provide 9,700 tons of rice and 970 tons of beans to some 1.1 million people from small-scale farming communities in Mindanao through food-for-assets initiatives.

"The food-for-assets projects will build important local infrastructure and develop skills through the provision of food in return for work or attendance in training courses," the EC said in a statement.

Local residents would be trained in using improved seed varieties, post-harvesting techniques, storage and irrigation management. Other programmes would include literacy training as well, the EC added.

WFP country director Stephen Anderson said the EC grant would help address the impact of high food prices on the poorest of the poor in Mindanao.

"Improving food production will mean better nutrition and a better standard of living for the poor in Mindanao, who remain chronically food-insecure," he said. "Our focus will be on increasing crop production through the rehabilitation of irrigation schemes, storage facilities and feeder roads."

The project would be implemented for one year starting September. The main beneficiaries are poor farming communities in the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte and Lanao de Sur.

Fighting between the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the military has plagued the five provinces since August 2008, displacing more than 500,000 people at the height of hostilities.(dpa)