MUTIA, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE – Four (4) women farmers’ associations from the municipality of Mutia, Zamboanga del Norte received more than 1,500 ready-to-lay pullets under the Department of Agriculture (DA) – Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program’s Chicken Layer Project in the province on June 5, 2018.
A total of 168 women farmers from barangays New Siquijor, Buena Suerte, Diland, and New Land benefited from the project amounting to more than Php 1.8 million. Each group got eight (8) modules of the so-called egg machines, each containing 48 22-week-old fully-vaccinated chickens.
According to SAAD Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Coordinator Ronilo Dusaban, the project aims to address nutrition problems in the identified villages and to augment the income of the recipients’ families.
DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, the brain behind SAAD, said that it is one of the programs that the agency offers as a better alternative to conditional cash transfer programs, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
He also expressed in his article his admiration to the beneficiaries, saying “Seeing the women take care of the chicken as a source of their extra income gives me so much inspiration and the determination to expand the coverage of the program.”
Prior to the said distribution, SAAD Zamboanga del Norte had also delivered egg machines to two other municipalities, Salug and Rizal.
In Salug, Liguac Farmers’ Association (with 33 beneficiaries) and Pacuhan Farmers’ Association (with 40 beneficiaries) were given 18 units of the machine per group, with 48 heads of chicken per unit. The project in Salug costed more than Php 1.8 million as well.
Meanwhile, in Rizal, the same project amounting to Php 1.2 million was implemented to help three farmers’ associations from barangays East Poblacion (with 30 beneficiaries), Sebaca (with 30 beneficiaries), and Tolda II (with 20 beneficiaries). Each group received four (4) units of the machine, containing 48 chickens per unit.
Beforehand, all beneficiaries have undergone trainings on Layer Chicken Production, Financial Management, and Production Recording to help them succeed with the livelihood projects.
Sec. Piñol is also confident that these projects will help the poor farmers to earn more if managed properly.
At present, the SAAD Program is being implemented in 20 provinces, which were chosen due to their high poverty incidence rates.
Zamboanga del Norte, one of the top 10 poorest provinces in 2012, was chosen as a SAAD province for the program’s first implementation year 2017 along with Apayao; Northern, Eastern, & Western Samar; Lanao del Sur; Negros Oriental; North Cotabato; Maguindanao; and Sarangani.
In 2018, the provinces of Occidental Mindoro, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Siquijor, Bukidnon, Sulu, Compostela Valley, and Sultan Kudarat were added. ###
Writer: Jhomai S. Canlas, SAAD PR & Communications Officer
