SUPPORT TO FARMERS. This undated photo shows the newly constructed pili and meat processing center for a cooperative in Cabraran Grande, a far-flung barangay in Jovellar, Albay. The facility was a grant from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) through its Village Level Farm Focused Enterprise Development (VFLED) project that helps farmers increase their crop production. (Photo courtesy of Gerard Buensalida)
LEGAZPI CITY – The Department of Agrarian Reform in Bicol (DAR-5) has been helping small farmers' cooperatives in remote villages of Albay province to grow their livelihood by giving them access to financial services and granting them crop production support.
One of the beneficiaries of DAR interventions is the Quipia Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association Cooperative (QARBC), which has 121 farmer-members in Cabraran Grande, a distant highland barangay in Jovellar town that was recently granted a pili nut and meat processing center.
In an interview on Tuesday, Gerard Buensalida, DAR-5 spokesperson, said QARBC asked for the agency's help through the Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP) in financing their crop production project and expanding to other businesses.
"DAR constructed the processing center through the Village Level Farm Focused Enterprise Development (VLFED) project amounting to PHP570,000 and through earnings from their microfinance program, the co-op was able to fund the building of their machinery shed, which cost PHP150,000, and contributed PHP80,000 as their counterpart for the pili and meat processing center," he said.
The cooperative now also runs a farm input dealership and rents out post-harvest equipment like hand tractors, threshers, mechanical transplanters, and reapers.
Buensalida said through the VFLED project, QARBC members are having continuous education by taking advanced technical skills and capacity-building training offered by the DAR to achieve self-reliance and market competitiveness.
“We are far from the town proper, but DAR can still reach us with their services. And we are happy that we can contribute to our community, generate jobs, and help enrich the lives of our farmer-members,” Susan M. Requiero, QARBC-acting general manager, said in a statement.
“Until now, DAR has been providing us with moral and other support projects to achieve all of this feat. They never fail to guide us in managing our organization. Their support is what keeps us going," she added.
Buensalida also said the farmers continue to benefit from a convergence of support services provided by various agrarian reform implementing agencies, donor communities, local government units, and non-government organizations.
These include skills and livelihood training, access to credit, health and well-being information and technology transfer, irrigation, multipurpose buildings, food processing centers with tools and instruments, and farm machinery. (With a report from Gyldel Sarcia/PNA-OJT)
