LA LIBERTAD, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE – 140 farmers from the province, the majority of them are women, were more empowered with the provision of the Department of Agriculture (DA) – Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program’s agricultural livelihood assistance during the celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD). The mass turnover activity was held at the Municipal Gymnasium on the 8th of March 2019.
SAAD Provincial Coordinator Ronilo Dusaban and SAAD Region IX Focal Person Reynaldo Campomanes led the event with the help of La Libertad Mayor Romeo Mejias.
The following farmers’ associations below were given support on different livelihood projects implemented by SAAD Region IX for FY 2018.
| Association | No. of beneficiaries | Project | Barangay |
| 1. La Libertad Agricultural Producers’ Association | 30 | Sweet Corn and Goat Production | Sta. Catalina |
| 2. Sitio Tuayon Farmers’ Association | 25 | Organically Grown Vegetable Production | Mauswagon |
| 3. Sta. Cruz Small Coconut Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative | 35 | Banana Production | Sta. Cruz |
| 4. La Union Farmers’ Association | 25 | Sustainable Upgraded Native Chicken Production | La Union |
| 5. Mauswagon Farmers’ Association | 25 | Sibuying Production and Processing | Mauswagon |
One of the projects seen as the most progressive is Mauswagon’s sibuying production as the farmers have developed a salad, an emerging delicacy in a jar, to be marketed soon. SAAD Region IX provided the materials to perfect the processing of the sibuying salad. ###
Writer: Jhomai Canlas, SAAD PR & Communications Officer
