The Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program conducted a Value-Adding Technology Training among the members of Tagas Multi-Purpose Cooperative (TMPC) in Tangalan, Aklan as they are set to receive a Native Chicken Production Project, this year.
The activity transpired last April 23, 2025 and gathered 45 native chicken growers of TMPC. It introduced the theoretical concepts of value addition and the benefits of venturing into this process as a way to “diversify” product offering, with an opportunity to enhance the perceived worth of a product or service beyond its basic features, leading to increased customer satisfaction and potentially higher revenue.
Ms. Jeriesa Mae Balofiños, Associate Project Officer I under the Marketing Assistance and Enterprise Development sub-component, shared her knowledge on these concepts and discussed the involvement of innovation (process/procedure and products) and coordination (logistics) that happens in the value-chain.
Leaning on these, she enumerated the reasons why native chicken is a good investment option as it is an important livestock resource and livelihood to about 2.5 million Filipinos which require simple management and remained a dependable source of protein in most of the rural areas. It has a market potential, in a sense that it created an alternative or niche market.
She continued by explaining that the different products made out of the native chicken should be readily marketable, useful, with improved storability, and higher profitability. Among these are native chicken lechon, tocino, native chicken bone broth, siomai, lumpia, and flavored native chicken shreds like pastil and adobo flakes, among others.
Holding significance for income generation, learning the concepts of value-addition will equip farmers with knowledge prior to their actual processing. By learning the theories prior to practical demonstration, farmers are provided a background and a foundational understanding that could increase their awareness and make the demonstration more meaningful and effective.
A Processing Training will also be provided to the group beneficiaries which will focus on the “how” of creating value-added products that will utilize hands-on demonstration for enhanced skill acquisition and retention.
