TAGUIG, April 11, 2023 – Perpetually forwarding “cooperation partnership” through development-based changes, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) Philippines laid down proposals for continued agricultural assistance to the Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program beneficiaries in selected provinces.

Present in the harmonization meeting are both institutions’ chiefs, headed by the DA-SAAD Program National Director Ulysses J. Lustria, Jr., and TIKA Philippines Director Fahri Burak Aydoğdu and their respective offices’ representatives. The meeting transpired in Taguig on April 4, 2023, that aimed to consolidate both parties’ concerns and course of actions toward the continuous provision of agricultural assistance in selected SAAD provinces from Phase 1, and proposal for Phase 2 covered areas.

The Quick Impact Projects (QIP) introduced to SAAD by Director Aydoğdu aims to offer immediate short-term solutions to the communicated and basic needs of the communities. This approach is ensured to complement long-term development strategies and is usually implemented with the help of local actors (such as SAAD). Through the QIPs, confidence in the development mission is increased, while the intent for outreach is broadened and carried out directly to the recipients (United Nations).

Picking up from the February 2022 meeting, the CY 2022-2023 projects are still on hold awaiting the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) approval, to which the TIKA Philippines Chief asked for SAAD to step in to lobby the document processing to immediately award the projects to SAAD beneficiaries.

For 2023, TIKA will provide livelihood complementation to the following SAAD farmers associations:

P7 Panaosawon Farmers Association (PPAFA) of Brgy. Panaosawon, Bayabas, Surigao del Sur, SAAD-organized FA with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) registration since August 6, 2019. Composed of 20 members, PPAFA farmers are mostly engaged in abaca, coconut, and rice production. To increase the capacity of abaca production, additional planting materials, fertilizers and pesticides, knapsack sprayer, mobile stripping machine for abaca and draft animals will be given to support the group.

135 family-based project beneficiaries from Agusan del Sur, who are coming from families engaged in fishing activities across 14 municipalities and city shall benefit from the Capacity Development in 4 Modalities for Fishing Families project, an extensive capability enhancement initiative composed of training in boat maintenance, fishing gear fabrication, Farmers Field School (FFS) in Aquaculture, financial literacy, and radio school.

United Landowners and Farmers Association of Upper Lubakan, Kapaya, Bagumbayan, and Sultan Kudarat engaged in traditional native chicken raising but lacked enough access to said commodity. They are pipelined to receive the Backyard Small-scale White Leghorn Production project, aimed at modernizing their practice, and engaging in enterprise to increase and sustain production.  

SAAD Organized Vegetable Farmers Organizations in Sorsogon was identified with the need to augment community-based vegetable processing facilities and a hauling truck to connect the vegetable producers directly to the consumers replicating KADIWA enterprising initiatives.

SAAD’s partnership with TIKA

TIKA is known to engage in development cooperation and humanitarian assistance activities in various countries, including the Philippines. Since 2017, the TIKA opened its doors to the DA-SAAD through the TIKAbuhayan Program, which aims to support sustainable production across the Philippines, targeting indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) and climate risk, economically, and geographically vulnerable areas.

In 2019-2020, TIKA has already provided millions worth of assistance to SAAD beneficiaries in selected areas. In Apayao, draft animal and training were granted to Katablangan Indigenous Farmer’s Association and the Nanawatan Nabuangan Upland Developer Association to help in the transportation of goods, while rice production support through machinery was given to SAAD Eastern Samar FAs namely the Tabi Rice Planters Association from Balangkayan and San Pedro Farmers Association from Quinapondan.

In 2022, SAAD farmer-beneficiaries in North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, and Sorsogon in Bicol are on TIKA’s priority lineup with eight (8) livelihood and development project proposals, for which six (6) are for agriculture sector (crops, poultry, and livestock) and two (2) fisheries sector projects under CY 2022 to 2023.

SAAD Program chief, Dir. Lustria extended his gratitude and praise to the organization (TIKA) for sharing the same vision with SAAD, He committed to help facilitate the processing of the project proposals with concerned agencies.

TIKA Philippines is planning to visit SAAD sites in Surigao del Sur and the provinces of the SAAD for project assessment. ###

Writer: Jemiema Arro and Jessamae Gabon, DA-SAAD Information Officer