In the conflict-affected village of Nacibac in the municipality of Leon B. Postigo, originally named Bacungan, a ray of hope is on the horizon.
Endowed with a vast tract of fertile land, food production was surprisingly very low.
Farmers were not keen on producing more than they could consume. The nearest corn mill is more or less 25 kilometers away. The road leading to the village is almost non-existent and much worse during rainy days.
When the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program of the Department of Agriculture adopted the village as its pilot community for agricultural development, things have changed for the people and its community.
After so many years of seeming neglect, they now felt government presence through the deployment of a community development facilitator, also known as Area Coordinator from the program.
The local government unit also designated a SAAD focal person from its agriculture office, who complements the effort of the Area Coordinator in organizing the community and facilitating participatory planning sessions to identify and prioritizing the needs of the community.
After a series of consultations, the community decided to implement a SCoPSA-inspired corn production project with mill component. SCoPSA or Sustainable Corn Production in Sloping Areas is one of the Department of Agriculture’s soil conservation and climate change adaptation measures for corn areas vulnerable to soil erosion.
The initial project was aimed at producing corn for food coupled with soil conservation practice.
For 2018, the community proposed to implement an upland rice production project in addition to their existing corn farm. The new project, with a rice mill component, also includes native chicken raising project. ###
See Part I of Touching Farmers’ Lives the SAAD Way: in Salug Zamboanga del Norte
Writer: Ronilo Dusaban, SAAD Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Coordinator
Lead Editor: Jhomai Canlas, SAAD PR & Communications Officer
