Field implementers and personnel of the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program convened in San Rafael, Iloilo from August 4 to 7 to cascade and validate newly crafted guidelines and templates for the Phase 2 Food Production and Livelihood (FPL) component.
The four-day activity, led by the DA-SAAD National Program Management Office (NPMO) FPL Sub-unit in collaboration with the Regional Program Management Support Office (RPMSO), aimed to assess the applicability, effectiveness, and alignment of the new operational tools with actual field implementation.
As part of the field validation, the San Florentino Food Garden Association (SaFFGA) in Barangay San Florentino, San Rafael, Iloilo, was selected as the farmer association where participants tested and validated the drafted guidelines and forms in an actual community-based implementation setting.
Conducting the field validation with SaFFGA allowed participants to evaluate the practicality and effectiveness of the drafted guidelines and forms under actual field conditions.
Through presentations, workshops, and on-site validation activities, participants reviewed the proposed operational tools, identified implementation gaps, and shared recommendations for improvement. The activity also served as a venue for gathering valuable feedback from field implementers to ensure that the finalized guidelines and forms are practical, relevant, and responsive to the realities encountered during program implementation.
Facilitating the activity were NPMO’s Kit Jasper N. Gopela, Operational Planning, Budget, Monitoring, and Evaluation (OPBME) Lead; Marie Abigail G. Dela Cruz, Social Preparation Sub-unit Lead; and Associate Project Officers I Marifel A. Ortega and Ricky L. Motita.
The NPMO team worked closely with SAAD RPMSO personnel throughout the cascading sessions and field validation to gather feedback and recommendations that will contribute to the refinement and finalization of the guidelines and templates.
The collaborative initiative reflects the DA-SAAD Program’s commitment to continuously enhancing its operational systems and ensuring that its guidelines and implementation tools effectively support the delivery of interventions to beneficiary communities.
By fostering collaboration between national and regional implementers and validating the drafted operational tools in a successful beneficiary association, the activity contributes to the continuous improvement of the SAAD Program and supports the consistent, efficient, and accountable delivery of agricultural development interventions to underserved communities. ###
