CEBU CITY, November 3, 2023 – During its 3rd Quarter Regional Assessment, the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Central Visayas completed 100% of its activities under the Social Preparation component and 80% for its specialized training under the Food Production and Livelihood component of the Program’s Phase 2 pilot year implementation in the region. Translated into figures, SAAD Central Visayas region achieved an obligation rate of 67.25% (Php 40.76 million) and 46.90% (Php 19.11 million) disbursement rate as of September 2023. 

Held in Cordova, Cebu, the activity which ran from October 11 to 13 focused on the provincial presentations of physical accomplishments and action plans to fasttrack targeted output for the remaining quarter of FY 2023. The area coordinators assigned in Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bohol, and Cebu attended and provided discussions if further clarifications were needed by the critiquing body. 

Completion of Social preparation activities

For SAAD Phase 2 coverage areas, the program implementers completed the conduct of social preparation activities for the municipalities of Maria, Larena, Enrique Villanueva and San Juan in Siquijor; San Jose for Negros Oriental; Alburquerque, Anda, Batuan, Clarin, Cortes, Dagohoy, Lila, Loay, San Isidro, Sevilla and Sikatuna in Bohol; and Ronda, Alcantara, Malabuyoc, Samboan, Boljoon, Alcoy, Tudela and Pilar in Cebu. This includes the conduct of profiling, geotagging, beneficiary needs assessment (BNA), and  capacity-building activities. 

Specialized training conducted 

While technical training was conducted for farmer-beneficiaries relative to the livelihood projects they received, 32 activities were conducted and participated by 585 farmers from the four (4) provinces covered by the Program in the region. These include training on production of sweet corn, vegetable, chicken egg, carabao, and animal healthcare and livestock management. 

In his message, DA Central Visayas Technical Director for Operations Joel A. Elumba commended the SAAD implementers for being hands-on to the projects implemented. He is optimistic that SAAD will fulfill its goal in contributing to poverty reduction in the marginalized communities it serves by improving production rate and addressing both the existing and anticipated challenges and issues during the course of program implementation.

“Naa na ‘tay mga teknolohiya. To improve production, kinahanglan na nato gayud ang supervised extension. They should be supervised, ang farmers. Ang extension, mao na ang role sa municipal agriculturists ug sa LGUs. Pero kamo, kita, have the power to encourage them kung unsay buhaton. Kita [DA] maoy mag-initiate,” Dir. Elumba said.

(We already have technology. To improve production, we really need a supervised extension. Our farmers should be supervised. Extension is the role of the municipal agriculturists and LGUs. But you, we, have the power to encourage them on what to do. We [DA] should be the ones to initiate.)

While there are still activities that need to be fast tracked to achieve targeted accountabilities for the remaining quarter of the year, the area coordinators presented their action plans. This include, the follow up of pending Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) registrations of the farmers associations, project interventions for delivery, monitoring of farm records, and fast tracking of disbursement vouchers and document attachments.

Leizl S. Pagaran, the new SAAD Alternate Regional Focal Person, disclosed the need to fast track the deliverables and the necessary documents to achieve at least 95% of the targets, both the physical and funding disbursement before the year ends. 

The activity was also attended by Operations Division Chief, Dr. Gerry S. Avila, the Regional Program Advisory Committee (RPAC) team, Agricultural Program Coordinating Officers (APCO) and Provincial Program Management Support Office (PPMSO) staff. ###

Writers: Jessica R. Alvero & Romeo Ruel Paras, DA-SAAD Central Visayas Information Officers