APAYAO, March 1, 2022 – Twenty-five members of the Upstream Livelihood Farmers Association (ULFA) have earned from selling their produce from the chicken and egg livelihood production intervention provided by the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to the Municipality of Luna, Apayao.

On September 28, 2021, the intervention program offered the association a poultry package consisting of 1,125 heads of female chicken, 120 heads of male chicken, and supplementary poultry supplies consisting of 50 bags of grower feeds, 127 bags of layer mash, 25 bags of multivitamins, 100 pieces of plastic tray, 100 pieces of poultry drinker, and 25 pieces of poultry net amounting to Php 1,310,200 (FY 2021).

SAAD Community Development Officer Meliza Feliciano explained that prior to the implementation of the project, SAAD field implementers conducted community consultations, with most of the members of ULFA identified as livestock raisers from Barangay Bacsay.

The association divided the interventions among 25 members, each receiving 45 heads of female chicken and 5 heads of male chicken.

In the month of October, the officers of the association started to collect eggs from different poultry sites. Based on the overall report of ULFA, a total of 6,146 pieces of eggs were collected and sold at Php 5 per piece, with the group earning Php 30,730 from October 2021 to January 2022.

In the midst of the pandemic

“Dakel iti pasasalamat mi iti SAAD program ta kinaawan patingga iti suporta nga naiteted yu kadakami nga association. Uray kasanu karigat iti agdama nga krisis ket ada kayu nga mang tulong kadakami,” said ULFA President Maxima Camayang.

[Big thanks to SAAD program for giving us endless support. Despite the crisis brought about by the pandemic, you were there to provide us assistance.]

She added that they look forward to becoming a food provider in their community since egg supplies in their area are almost imported.

For having the ability to maintain a good record, the group was awarded Good Standing by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) which certified their Farmers’ Cooperative and Association (FCA) as a legitimate labor union and workers’ association who have completed the annual financial report for fiscal year (FY) of 2020.

Journey towards enterprise

As a beginning enterprise, the beneficiaries are in the process of tapping other agencies and the LGUs for marketing assistance.

The association strictly complies to their policy for each recipient of poultry stock to turn over at least 30 pieces of egg to the officers every month. According to SAAD Apayao Project Development Officer Roniel Dugay this strengthened the relationship of the group.

“Kada bulan, apan kami barangay hall tapnu ijay agcollect iti egg produced. Tapno ada transparency na association tu meten iti mapan ag lako market,” shared Camayang.

[Each month, we are conducting a regular assembly in Barangay Hall to collect the egg produced. To observe transparency, the association must be the one who will market the collected eggs.]

To further help their community in terms of sustainability, each recipient is free to distribute chicks produced to their community as long as the target recipient is capable of raising poultry stocks in a .50 square meter of land area.

As part of their sustainability plan, the association plans to venture on selling dressed chicken. As a complimentary intervention of the project, the group is set to receive two units of egg scale worth Php 3,500 and one unit of incubator with generator worth Php 90,000. ###

Writer: Kathleen Faye B. Agonoy, Information Officer, SAAD Apayao