TARLAC, February 21, 2023 – The Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program in Central Luzon officially met with the target Farmers Associations (FA) from Anao, Tarlac from January 31 to February 1, 2023 to kick off Phase 2 implementation in Central Luzon. 

Seventy-one (71) farmers from four (4) FAs graced the activity where SAAD Program’s services were introduced along with information and processes on area and beneficiaries selection. Further, potential farmer-beneficiaries were informed of the profiling processes which they have to go through as prerequisite to the livelihood grant.

Profiling involved acquiring information on the demography, primary livelihood of the community and their history of farming, among others. Geotagging or the process of adding geographic coordinates to media (such as images) based on the location detected by the implementers for ease of tracking and monitoring the interventions was also discussed.

Belonging to the 5th class municipality, Casili, Bantog, Campos and West, and Rizal are among the barangays in Anao identified and shortlisted to benefit from SAAD.

After the program briefing, the farmers will undergo the beneficiary needs assessment (BNA) on February 21-22, 2023 in Anao, Tarlac. Led by SAAD Central Luzon implementers, the BNA, an essential social preparation tool, seeks to extract existing and new information and gives perspective to the community conventions. The method shall be used to get quantitative and qualitative data, through desk review, focused group discussions, and site validation. BNA also opens a conversation between implementers and beneficiaries to identify the community’s priorities and customs which will eventually help to design livelihood inputs for the community.Table 1. FAs present during the SAAD Project Briefing

SAAD Provincial Coordinator Ariel de Guzman led the launching of the SAAD Program and the profiling of the SAAD beneficiaries.

During the briefing, Mr. de Guzman explained SAAD’s origin and purpose for the FAs to have a better understanding of the program.

“Naglalayon po ang SAAD na tulungan ang mga magsasaka na hindi naaabutan ng ibang programa ng gobyerno. Pumunta po rito ang SAAD para magbigay ng intervention tulad sa pagtatanim ng mais” (SAAD aims to help farmers who are not reached by other programs of the government. SAAD came here to provide interventions such as inputs for planting corn), de Guzman said. 

SAAD Region 3 Focal Person Marie Joy M. Daguro, and Evelyn A. Villafane, Social Preparation Lead, Rommelyn V. Quinto, Senior Administrative Assistant I, and Joey Buan, Data Encoder I, joined on the second day of the program in Brgy. Rizal.

“Kami po sa SAAD ay ginagawa ang lahat ng aming makakaya para po maipaabot ang tulong ng gobyerno sa ating mga magsasaka” (We in SAAD are doing everything we can to deliver government assistance to our farmers), shared Ms. Daguro in a short message to the Rizal Livelihood Farmer’s Association. 

SAAD Program in its Phase 2 implementation now includes Central Luzon among the 15 regions to benefit from agricultural projects across the country. Regional Field Office 3, with the support of Regional Executive Director (RED) Mr. Crispulo G. Bautista, Jr. shall cover the provinces of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija for 2023 livelihood assistance rollout. ###

Writer: Gennadiy C. Duque, DA-SAAD Region 3, Information Officer II