NEGROS ORIENTAL, March 11, 2022 – Through the FY 2021 Backyard Cattle Fattening project of the Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD), ten (10) farmers from Barangay Paniabonan Rural Improvement Club (BPRIC) earn an additional income of Php 195,900 from a cattle auction held in Paniabonan, Mabinay, Negros Oriental.
The 10 first-in-line beneficiaries from 30 members of BPRIC acquired the interventions as part of the FY 2021 Backyard Cattle Fattening project of the SAAD Program in September 2021 (Table 1). The project is a barangay-based livelihood support to augment family income and uplift the living condition of the local farmers.
According to the National Anti-Poverty Commission, Mabinay is one of the poorest municipalities in Negros Oriental with a poverty incidence of 52.7% in 2015. It was seen that the provision of livelihood support will provide farmer-beneficiaries better living conditions and increase their income especially since most of them used to raise cattle.
Based on the project proposal, a farmer recipient will raise the animal for 90 to 120 days, using farm by-products such as corn stover, Napier grass, and other forage crops. After the raising period, fattened animals will be sold in the livestock auction market where a repayment scheme was agreed upon by the association for fund rollover.
Table 1. Interventions received by BPRIC
Before being chosen as one of the first-in-line beneficiaries, Nanay Maria Satoc, a 61-year-old housewife, assisted her late husband in raising swine, goat, and chicken while tending to her backyard vegetable farm. This livelihood stopped when her husband passed away.
“Dako gid kaayo nig tabang kay wala man koy laing katabang, kani raging asosasyon. Kalipay kaayo nako, ug sa akong mga anak. Sa akong edad, na angkon nako ang baka nga dugay na nakong gihandom, kini nahitabo tungod sa SAAD”, she shared.
(This is a big help since the association has been with me for a long time. I am a widow and raise my children alone. I cannot believe that at this age, I can own a cow. SAAD made it possible.)
The auction, which the association organized with the help of the barangay LGU was made easy because the venue is within the vicinity and they did not have to spend money and time transporting the cattle. The gross sales of the 10 members reached Php 279,500 (Table 2).
As an association agreement, beneficiaries can sell their cattle once, and share 30% of the sales to the association to purchase other cattle and benefit the rest of the FCA’s members.
Table 2. BPRIC members’ auction sales
“Dako kaayo ko ug pasalamat aning programaha. Salamat sa programa sa SAAD, tungod ani nakakupot ko ug ing ani nga kwarta, makapalit nako ug bugas, makabayad sa utang, ug makapalit nako ug tambal. Hinaot di mawala ang programa ug daghan pa ang matabangan nga samo namo nga nanginahanglan”, Mrs. Satoc added.
(I am very grateful for this program. Thank you to the SAAD Program because I was chosen [as beneficiary] and earned this amount of money. I can now buy rice for our meal, pay my debts, and purchase my medicine. I hope that the program will continue helping farmers, especially those who are in need.)
Plans
The association members are even more motivated to sustain the project and plan to buy additional cattle to take advantage of the cattle price cut due to low market demand.
Although the beneficiaries have completed their obligation to the association, some farmers remained enthusiastic and promised to continue raising and producing quality cattle for livelihood while other members will venture into meat processing and livestock raising.
Additionally, barangays Banban, and Lamdas in Mabinay are also set to sell their cattle under the same project in the first quarter of 2022. ###
Writer: Jolina Daño, Information Officer, DA-SAAD Region 7
Source: PPMSO Negros Oriental Mabinay Area Coordinator, Princess Akimi Macabinguil
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