ILOILO CITY, September 7, 2023 – The Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program held a series of Financial Management Trainings among members of 10 farmers’ associations (FAs) in Guimaras, Iloilo, Aklan, and Negros Occidental.  

The Beneficiary Needs Assessment (BNA) conducted successively in the region in the first quarter raised the need for trainings as challenges in making wise financial decisions, proper record-keeping, and management of resources and properties floated in the said four provinces during the focused group discussion that are seen as among the common causes of failed projects.

In Antique, financial management trainings will be targeted for four FAs in the following year since specialized trainings for production and farm management were prioritized based on the assessed needs of beneficiaries. 

While most of the beneficiaries rely on mental mathematics, boosting their literacy on financial management would help them understand the importance of documenting their transactions and deciding on how to spend their association’s funds for their day-to-day operations.

Integrated with simple bookkeeping, farmers are expected to prepare properly-outlined financial statements that they could use to determine the performance and status of the association.

Series of Training Held

Aimed to introduce the basic principles of financial information that they could apply on a daily basis, 300 farmers from 10 FAs boosted their financial literacy on financial management and simple bookkeeping (Table 1). 

Mr. Peter Anthony S. Padilla, DA Accountant, and Ms. Marjorie D. Jose, Project Development Assistant of the SAAD Program served as the resource speakers and shared their expertise in the series of trainings held simultaneously in each municipality.

“Proper recordkeeping is equal to proper management,” Mr. Padilla told the beneficiaries. Apart from his inputs on journalizing transactions, he likewise expressed his hopes for the associations to apply the learnings he had imparted for the management of their finances.Table 1. List of FAs who underwent Financial Management Training

Mr. Julio Tanaleon, chairperson of Sitio Napuong Small Farmers Association, thanked the program for initiating this type of training to which he said, “Ang discussion naghatag guid sa amon kinaalam kung paano patikangon ang amon gamay nga kita kag ang amon natun-an magamit namon hasta sa ulihi nga basi magdurudako man amon nga kita. Bentaha guid kung ang isa ka asosasyon nakabaton sang training.”

(The discussion gave us knowledge on how to utilize our small income and the knowledge we gained from the training is something that we could apply until such time that our income gets bigger. The association is at an advantage if they receive training like this.)

Among the pool of FAs, these 10 were prioritized to receive the said training due to a sense of urgency as their projects are already leaning towards production and value-adding. The Panayakan-Lanipga Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Tangalan, Aripdip Farmers Association in San Rafael, and Tubod Farmers Association in Bingawan are yet to receive the same training scheduled on August 30, September 6 and 8, respectively.

SAAD seeks to equip the association with financial management skills that would help them take proactive actions in the utilization of their funds, assess their financial limitations, and manage their financial resources in an efficient way. ###

Writer: Cedie C. Bataga, DA SAAD Region 6 Information Officer