DAVAO CITY, January 20, 2023 – Phase 2 implementation of the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program in Davao Region formally commences with a wider scope of implementation in four (4) priority provinces and 14 municipalities.

“Magtambayayong ta ani…unta dako iyahang kapuslanan kung asa man siya iyabo (Let’s work in tandem for this…we do hope that the program will have an impact regardless of where it will be poured),” Regional Executive Director Abel James Montegudo said, addressing municipal and provincial agriculturists and veterinarians of the identified provinces and municipalities in SAAD’s Phase 2 commencement meeting in Davao Region. 

“Ang amo lang diri…ang fulfillment nga ang program mugana siya. Makit-an namo nga mudugay siya, naay resulta, ug unta mausab, mu-improve ang kinabuhi sa farmer (The joy and fulfillment we will get out of this is when the program works. We’ll see that it will sustain, produce results, and hopefully change, improve the life of the farmer),” he added.

For 2023 alone, SAAD allocated Php 32 million for the region. The program will run through 2023 to 2028, with focus on creating community-based enterprises out of identified farmers associations.

Previously in the program’s Phase 1 of implementation, it poured Php 209 million from 2018 to 2022 in the sole province of Davao de Oro benefitting a total of 13,503 individual farmers across 11 municipalities of the province.

Priority provinces and municipalities

While the baseline qualification of the program’s initial implementation relied on poverty incidence rates, its next phase honed in on 5th-6th class and top-third poorest municipalities in the country not including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Fourteen (14) municipalities in the region qualified from four provinces, including Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, and Davao Occidental.

In Davao del Norte, the municipalities of San Isidro and Talaingod were identified, while in Davao del Sur, only the municipality of Kiblawan fitted the conditional requirements.

Seven municipalities qualified in the province of Davao Oriental: Baganga, Boston, Cateel, Caraga, Governor Generoso, Manay, and Tarragona. In Davao Occidental, four municipalities fitted the qualifications: Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, Malita, and Sarangani.

All identified beneficiaries belonged to Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) and End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) areas.

Interventions

The Regional Program Management Support Office will start profiling beneficiaries next week. Rapid Rural Appraisal, orientation, and social preparation of beneficiaries are slated within the first quarter. 

Out of 14 municipalities, 12 are set to receive corn and layer chicken production projects, while the remaining two will receive banana and layer chicken production projects targeted to be distributed throughout the second and third quarters of the year. ###

Writer: James Brian R. Flaga, DA-SAAD Region 11 Information Officer