PANABO CITY, May 2, 2023 – In a bid to strengthen fundamental agri-extensionist skills among its ranks, the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Davao Region trained five (5) of its community development officers (CDO) on extension delivery services (EDS) commissioned from the agency’s training arm, Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Davao Region.

SAAD Program Phase 2 Davao Region banks on the training to reinforce personnel perspective to focus on farmers’ empowerment through effective communication in agricultural interventions. The training also served as prep work for the more intensive Phase 2 of SAAD’s implementation in the region, with a widened scope from one (1) to four (4) provinces). The program will run for the next six (6) years.

“I-capacitate jud nato atoang mga tao kay para mas masabtan nila ilahang role lalo na sa mga direct nga mu-tarbaho sa field. Kinahanglan nato ni sa implementasyon sa atoang programa, nga masabtan nila nga ang extension delivery dili lang pag panghatag ug interventions,” Naomi Lamata, SAAD Davao Region Alternate Assistant Focal Person, said. 

(We’ll capacitate our personnel so that they’ll understand their role, especially those who are directly dealing with our fieldwork. We need this for the program’s implementation, for them to be inculcated that extension delivery isn’t just giving interventions.)

For Phase 2, the program streamlined its approach of identifying interventions for farmers from the ground up, adding Beneficiary Needs Assessment (BNA) and Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) as planning tools for beneficiary identification and project selection. 

Held in ATI Davao Region in Panabo City, the training spanned three days from April 19 to 21, with major discussions in Basics of Agricultural Extension, Agricultural Extension Approaches, Strategies, and Methods and Trends and Challenges in Agricultural Extension. The discussions were led and facilitated by several ATI personnel, including Olivia D. Gatus, MExEd, Assistant Center Director, and Ms. Ofelia Sanchez, Training Specialist III.

Application

For this year’s implementation, SAAD Davao Region will benefit 14 farmers’ associations (FAs) from 14 municipalities across four provinces of the region. The FAs and municipalities identified belonged to the third poorest and 5th to 6th class municipalities.

“Magamit kaayo siya (It’s very useful) since kita nga mga (we, as) agricultural extensionist, we consider ourselves generalists. I learned that it’s not about delivering the agri interventions but also about extending the knowledge that we have,” newly-hired CDO II Joed Orig, related. 

A major takeaway from the training, as per returning CDO II Cecilio Jose Sangines, was the importance of properly penetrating an area from an extensionist perspective. “Kung mag-deliver ka ug agri-services sa isa ka area, naay proseso ug kinahanglan nimo mahibaloan ang kultura nila. Mu-conduct ka ug visitations ug oculars para mabal-an kung maka-angay ba ang area sa mga ipanghatag,” he said. (If one is to deliver agri-services in an area, there is a process to be had, and one must know the local culture. Conduct visitations to know if the area is apt for the interventions.)

The EDS training also touched on facilitation skills in extension, principles in adult learning, and communication in extension, among others. At the end of the training, the participants received a certificate of completion. 

Existing personnel of SAAD Davao Region previously took the training as well, from area coordinators and administrative staff. ###

Writer: James Brian R. Flaga, DA-SAAD Region 11 Information Officer
Source: DA-SAAD Davao de Oro