MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, September 8, 2022 – Ten (10) indigenous women from the Kankanaey tribe in Napua, Sabangan earned a total Php 1,663,587.50 after five cycles of the Swine Repopulation Project from the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
The beneficiaries are members of the Napua Farmers Timpoyog Organization (NFTO) Farmers Cooperative and Association (FCA) established in 2019. It is a rural-based association composed of 145 indigenous women farmers who are crops and swine producers from the Kankanaey tribe with income levelled below the poverty threshold. They were registered under the Department of Labor and Employment in March 2019 and under the Department of Agriculture in June 2019.
In 2021, ten members from NFTO were selected as first-in-line beneficiaries of the Swine Repopulation Project worth Php 865,100.00 since their current sows were ready for reproduction.
Selected beneficiaries are mostly farm laborers and small scale farmers who own two to three sows before their admission in the repopulation project. However, during the implementation, cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) were recorded in their neighboring barangays. With their strict implementation of biosecurity measures from August 2021 to present, Barangay Napua remained ASF-free. Outside the barangay pig buyers were restricted from entering the community and all swine raisers were advised to not allow any visitors to approach their pig pens.
Production and marketing of pigs and piglets at Barangay Napua continued as they only accommodate buyers from its nearby barangays and provinces such as Benguet, selling meat at Php 160 to Php 200.00 per kilo, and Php 4,500.00 to Php 5,000.00 liveweight per head depending on the market ceiling price.
Table 1. Income Generated by NFTO members“Idi maid paylang DA-SAAD, dakami ay e-Napua di marigatan ay en man an-anap si baboy ay taraknen mi. Ngem edwani, inmad-ado et di baboy gapos Swine Repopulation project di DA-SAAD. Dakami et di man laklako si burias ya baboy si udom ay ili. Isunga dak-dake nan naibadang na tay wada met iman nan-ilakuan danan nabenepisyaran,” said Peter Ing-inga, Barangay Captain of Napua.
(Before DA-SAAD came, people here in Napua had difficulties in looking for pigs to raise, but through the Swine Repopulation Project, we became sellers of pigs and piglets to our customers from other places. That’s why it helped a lot because the program beneficiaries have at least bigger sales.)
Fulfilling the original mission of the repopulation program, the continuous reproduction of pigs owned by the beneficiaries led to extra income used for their household expenses, children’s school expenses, and construction materials to build their own houses.
Meanwhile, Perigrina Damitan, one of the first-in-line beneficiaries who benefited from the project, expressed her appreciation for the free feeds and vitamins she received for her pigs. “Nakatipid ak sin expenses ko tay waday feeds ya vitamins ay inyalin di DA-SAAD. Maysa pay, nakatulung metlang ta waday in pass-pass on ak si kaarubak ay farmer isunga edwani, mantartaraken da metlang si baboy.”
(I saved a lot from my expenses because the DA-SAAD has given free feeds and vitamins. Further, it helped because I have passed-on piglets to my fellow farmers so now, they are also venturing into hog raising.)
The first ten beneficiaries were able to roll-over a total of 20 pigs (two females each) to the ten next-in-line members.
Ways Forward
NFTO is set to receive its swine multiplier farm from the DA-SAAD this year with the beneficiaries agreeing to allot at least two piglets each in the facility for reproduction.
From this multiplier farm, the NFTO plans to increase its stocks to be able to expand their business into the manufacturing of pork meat products. ###
Writer: Florde Liza A. Afidchao, DA-SAAD Mountain Province Information Officer
Source:
Napua Farmers Timpoyog Organization
DA-SAAD Sabangan Project and Community Development Officers
