CALABARZON, June 30, 2023 – As beneficiary requisite in receiving livelihood assistance,  the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Phase 2 in CALABARZON is set to begin organizing farmers into associations after completing Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and profiling activities in Tingloy, Batangas. 

A total of 635 participants from ten (10) barangays underwent a PRA community study from April 12 to May 11, 2023, aimed to gather essential communities’ basic agricultural information and identify the project rationale. Carefully considering the community resources and experiences, the PRA study revealed goat production, banana production, and coconut production as the most feasible agricultural livelihood in the community.

PRA directly involves community members in the analysis of their socio-economic and agricultural conditions, allowing them to develop a shared understanding of their realities and formulate ways to address this. SAAD conducts this as a platform for farmers’ perspectives to be heard, ensuring that the upcoming livelihood interventions are tailored to the needs of the community.

Verifying the information gathered during the focused group discussions to match the actual farm areas of the respondents, site validation was conducted together with farmers, barangay officials, and representatives of the Provincial Agriculturist of Batangas.

Alongside, SAAD CALABARZON identified facilities and land use through barangay mapping, history, and socio-agricultural trends, cost and return of major commodities, agricultural practices, and existing problems in their area. Through this, the team found out that the members have land areas suitable to grow various crops which, however, are often only planted for personal consumption. 

Following the completion of PRA, SAAD CALABARZON is gearing up to implement a comprehensive livelihood intervention plan. With the aim of empowering the farmers in the area, the program is set to provide training and support in various aspects of agricultural development. 

Recognizing the need to enhance capacity and knowledge of farmers, the program will conduct a series of training covering values formation, community organization, and the formulation of by-laws. Further, to facilitate effective collaboration and collective actions, SAAD CALABARZON intends to assist the identified farmers in forming 10 farmers’ associations (FAs). 

Meanwhile,  livelihood intervention is set to roll out in 2024, focusing in three (3) key areas; boosting goat farming, improving high-value crop production, and ensuring food security. ###

Writers: Pamela Faith M. Garcia, DA-SAAD CALABARZON Information Officer, Jayvee Amir P. Ergino, DA-SAAD CALABARZON Information Officer