DAVAO CITY, October 16, 2024 – Last October 7-11, the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program Davao Region hosted the Program’s FY 2024 3rd Quarter National Physical and Financial Assessment.

Aggregating the program’s regional implementers, assessing on-ground implementation, and evaluating accomplishments against targets, the Program’s 3rd Quarter Assessment addressed relevant issues and encouraged close coordination with the agency’s other programs. 

“We are gathered here again to talk about numbers. And as I’ve said many times, numbers do nothing. But numbers for farmers, that’s something. The translation of these numbers into real situations on the ground level is very important,” said National Program Management Office (NPMO) Deputy Director Dr. Pedro Dumaraos, Jr.

SAAD is a special program implemented in 15 regions, excluding the National Capital Region (NCR) and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), anchored in poverty incidence reduction and development of marginalized Filipino communities. In its Phase 2 of implementation, the program is geared towards creating community-based enterprises (CBEs) out of the farmers associations (FA) it benefits. 

“SAAD is a very unique program because of the social preparation component and we cannot do away from it. Mahalaga sa atin ang kalagayan ng magsasaka at mangingisda (The most important for us is how our farmers and fishers are). This is the apex objective of SAAD,” he added.

The assessment was moderated by Deputy Executive Director III and Program Director for Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Annray Villota, representatives from the offices of the Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns, Undersecretary for Operations, ATI, BAI, BPI, and BFAR.

“Let’s keep the fire burning in our hearts…the fire, the fire must be there. Wag na wag nating kalimutan na ang pagtulong ay para sa lahat. At kung tutulong ka, hanggang dulo naman (Let’s never forget that support is for all. And when we help and support, better do it all the way) ,” Dumaraos concluded.

SAAD’s Phase 2 will run through until 2028 and aims to cater more far-flung communities across the country. In Davao Region, the program currently benefits 28 FAs across four provinces and 14 municipalities of the region.

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Writer: James Brian Flaga, SAAD Davao Region PRDC

Photographer: Ronell Tangonan, James Brian Flaga, SAAD Davao Region

Source: DA-SAAD Davao Region