ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, June 30, 2022 – The Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program conducted a series of Capability Building on Organizational Management and Policy Formulation Training for its new beneficiaries, as part of the Program’s Social Preparation component, to ensure readiness and empowerment of the farmers in accepting and managing the project.

A total of 840 new beneficiaries from 44 Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) in 18 different municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte Province attended the said activity held from May 17 to May 24 held in their respective municipalities.

Out of 44 FCAs, 14 are Indigenous Peoples (IPs) belonging to the Subanen tribe, 11 groups are tagged as End Local Communist-Armed Conflict (ELCAC) areas, 16 groups are Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs), while the remaining three are groups of local farmers. All the beneficiaries are farmers, mostly cultivating corn and rice and some high-value crops such as cassava and sweet potato for their food consumption. Some farmers live as tenants who farm coconut, and rubber, among others. After the harvest, the land owner and the farmers will share the income from the harvested produce.

Table 1. List of SAAD FCA participants for the Capability Building on Organizational Management and Policy Formulation

As part of the intensified and localized assistance, the SAAD Area Coordinators (ACs), equipped with sound knowledge on the interventions, led the training and served as resource speakers in their assigned areas. The ACs followed a management framework tackling planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.

After the lecture, the farmers participated in a workshop where they were tasked to formulate policies for their associations as part of the group’s credibility-building on operating as a group. “At the end of this training, our beneficiaries are expected to adopt the basic organizational management system, increase confidence in handling association-based operations management, and establish organizational policies based on the guiding principles of the program,” said SAAD Provincial Coordinator, Mr. Roger Dave Gramatica.

Some FCAs already received the livelihood projects under the SAAD Program FY 2022 such as the Banana Production in Siayan municipality; Swine Dispersal, and Swine Raising in municipalities of Sergio Osmeña and Kalawit, and Ginger Production in PMA Roxas and Godod, among others.

Meanwhile, the Native Chicken Raising Projects that will benefit 18 FAs are scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2022.

As SAAD Phase 1 implementation concludes this year, it remains committed in maximizing the resources of the program to serve and tap more farmers-in-need and other vulnerable sectors in the rural areas to encourage food sufficiency and expand income sources. ###

Writer: Aimee Lou D. Madjus, DA SAAD Region 9 Information Officer