APAYAO, June 16, 2022 – Two Farmers Associations (FAs) in the Municipality of Luna, Apayao have earned a total of Php 43,165 from the Chicken and Egg Production Project of the Department of Agriculture- Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program.
The inputs provided are part of SAAD’s Free-range Chicken Egg Production Project funded in FY 2021 amounting to Php 2,778,780. The package is composed of 2,850 free-range chickens and supplementary poultry inputs such as grower mash, layer mash, multi-vitamins, egg trays, drinker, and poultry net.
In August 2021, the program implemented the project where the recipients are farmers from the Upstream Livelihood Farmers Association (ULFA) with 25 members and Midstream Livelihood Farmers Association (MLFA) with 45 members. The beneficiaries, whose source of income is by growing varied crops like vegetables, corn, and rice, hope that the poultry project will help them earn and save money for the education of their children.
Results
According to Ms. Verna Capan, Project Development Officer of SAAD Provincial Program Monitoring Support Office (PPMSO) in Apayao, the groups were able to accumulate additional sources of income three months after project implementation.
“Kalpasan iti mano nga bulan nga naited detuy nga livelihood project, nakita mi iti impact na iti effort mi nga maysa nga grupo. Han lang nga nakatulong kami iti members nu di kitdi nakatulong kami pay iti community nga adda’an iti food supply para consumption” (After months of providing us with livelihood project, we were able to witness the impact of our efforts as a group. It didn’t just help the members but also helped the community when it comes to food supply for consumption), expressed Ms. Maxima Camayang, President of ULFA.
She also added that the FAs are selling their farm produce to nearby barangays and towns proper.
Table 1. Income generated by the FAs
According to Ms. Camayag, because of SAAD, a sense of unity sparked among farmers, in achieving a common goal which is to alleviate their living status from poverty. The beneficiaries hope that the poultry project will help them earn and save money for the education of their children.
Last March, ULFA and MLFA were rated among the highest and outstanding 45 FAs in the province by the PPMSO in partnership with the Municipal Local Government Unit that conducts its Organizational Development and Management. With this, the program hopes that the associations will continue to prosper in agripreneurship if SAAD Phase-2 shall be granted.
Policy and Plans
As agreed, each member is required to contribute at least 1 tray of eggs per month to generate additional income as a group.
SAAD Apayao will be endorsing these associations to LGU for additional partnership among government agencies such as the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for additional training in marketing. ###
Writer: Kathleen Faye B. Agonoy, SAAD Apayao Information Officer
