BAGUIO CITY, PHILIPPINES — The Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program conducted an initial planning workshop on January 10-12, 2018 that will pave the way for the crafting of SAAD 2019-2022 plans for Apayao, together with two (2) new provinces of the Program which are Mountain Province, and Kalinga, through a powerful methodological tool that is the Logical Framework Approach or LFA.
The Program is adopting the use of the LFA which aims to identify the agricultural concerns of the SAAD-covered municipalities and barangays and determine solutions (problem to objective tree) in order to come up with a multi-year plan of activities and budget.
Right after the discussion of the SAAD guidelines by the SAAD NPMO (National Program Management Office) Program Director, Bernadette F. San Juan, and welcoming remarks of the DA-CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) Regional Executive Director (RED) Narciso A. Edillo,  an initial list of Barangays from these provinces were identified by the participants through hands-on exercises as facilitated by SAAD-NPMO’s Justin Dela Rueda.
Impressive outputs to the workshop are also highlighted as shown by the participant’s presentations. It is evident that the representatives of these provinces are eager to plan ahead of time for project implementation in year 2019 and beyond. Â
In 2017, DA started a new program known as SAAD that shall augment the regular programs in increasing food production and alleviating poverty in 10 provinces where poverty incidence is high. In 2018, additional 10 provinces were included in the Program.
The activity was organized by SAAD-CAR led by its Regional Focal Person and also the  DA-CAR’s Regional Technical Director (RTD) Engr. Danilo Daguio.  The same workshop will also be mirrored in other SAAD Regional Offices.
Writer: Ela Arciaga, SAAD PR & Communications Officer
