CENTRAL VISAYAS, December 6, 2023 – To ensure readiness of the farmers in managing the livelihood projects, the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program conducted a series of capability enhancement and specialized training for its Phase 2 beneficiaries in Central Visayas.

Most of the beneficiaries for SAAD Phase 2 Program implementation in the region are local farmers, cultivating rice, corn, and some high-value crops such as eggplant, bell pepper and cassava for their food consumption. Some of these farmers live as tenants cultivating coconut and sweet potato (kamote), raising cows, carabaos, goats, chicken, and swine among others as an additional source of income. Others rely on fishing and labor jobs in construction sites.

Capability enhancement

A total of 1,200 new beneficiaries from 48 Farmers Associations (FAs) in 24 different municipalities of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor provinces attended the two-day Capability Enhancement activities held from May to August 2023, in their respective municipalities.

The identified beneficiaries for SAAD Phase 2 Program implementation in Central Visayas underwent Capability Building on Leadership, Organizational Strengthening and Agro-enterprise Development and Values Formation and Organizational Strengthening Training.

Area Coordinators (ACs) functioned as resource speakers in their designated municipalities and in other provinces as part of the Program’s support. In collaboration with the Regional Program Management Support Office (RPMSO) and Provincial Program Management Support Offices (PPMSOs) of Siquijor and Negros Oriental, the activities provided the farmers with knowledge on management practices such as planning, organizing, staffing, and leading the association.

“Daghan kog nabaluan kabahin sa pag amoma sa kaugalingon, pagtagad sa among isig katawo, ug labi na unsaon pagpalambo sa asosasyon pinaagi sa training,” a farmer member of Dawis Farmers Association expressed after participating in the activity held in Samboan, Cebu. (I learned a lot on how to take care of ourselves, how to properly treat each other and most especially, how to improve the association by means of training.)  

Specialized training

Conducted between May to August 2023, 32 FAs attended the series of two-day specialized training courses held in 16 municipalities in the region. It was led by the RPMSO with the support of the Provincial Program Management Support Offices (PPMSOs).

These include Sweet Corn Production and Livestock Management for 2 FAs in Negros Oriental and Chicken Egg Production for 8 Siquijor FA beneficiaries. In line with the SAAD projects, a total of 22 FAs from 11 municipalities in Bohol attended and participated in the training courses namely Package of Technology on Vegetable Production; Chicken Egg Production and Health Nutrition Management; and Carabao Production and Animal Healthcare.

“Kadtong sa gi–conduct nila kanamo nga training, nakat–on kog sakto bahin sa mga klase sa manok, mga klase sa balay sa manok, ang lain laing virus nga muatake nila, ug unsaon pag atiman sa mga manok,” a member of Jambawan Farmers Association wrote on the evaluation form after participating in the Chicken Egg Production and Health Nutrition Management training  in Lila, Bohol. 

(During the training being conducted by the SAAD Program, I gained enough knowledge on the different types of chickens and chicken housing, the different viruses, and ways to take care of the chickens.)

The specialized training was conducted through the support of the Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC), Integrated Laboratory Division (ILD), Research Division, Field Operations Division (FOD), and Cebu Experiment Station (CES).

Meanwhile, specialized training courses for farmer beneficiaries from the 8 municipalities in Cebu are set to commence in the 2nd quarter of FY 2024 since it was just recently added this year in the list of SAAD-covered provincial areas.   

Capability enhancement is conducted to prepare the beneficiaries in adopting the basic organizational management system, increase confidence in handling association-based operations management, and establish organizational policies based on the guiding principles of the SAAD Program.  

On the other hand, the knowledge and skills that they acquired from the series of specialized training will equip them towards successful management of the projects and sustainable agricultural production in line with the Food Production and Livelihood (FPL) goals. ###

Writer: Jessica R. Alvero, DA SAAD Central Visayas Information Officer
Sources: DA–SAAD Central Visayas SPPM, FPL and IDD Units
DA–SAAD Central Visayas Area Coordinators