HELPING HAND. A farmer receives a sack of feeds on Thursday (Oct. 12, 2023) under the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) program of the Department of Agriculture. The DA-4A focuses on the development of the agricultural sector and its stabilization against changing times in support of the livelihood of the people in the community. (Photo courtesy of DA-4A)
LIPA CITY, Batangas – The Department of Agriculture office in Calabarzon (DA-4A) is ramping up various initiatives to promote increased productivity among Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Farmers' Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) so they can contribute more to the country’s food security.
Lucia Campomanes, director of the Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo (4K) Program, expressed optimism on Tuesday that the government’s efforts will help IP farmers produce sufficient food for their own needs, while also producing a surplus to boost the country’s stocks.
“We will continue to find out the needs of the natives while tirelessly guiding them on how to improve their livelihoods,” she told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Campomanes noted that her office reported on recent accomplishments under the program in the 3rd Quarter 2023 DA-4K Performance and Budget Utilization Review that was conducted from Oct. 9-13 in Los Baños, Laguna.
The different regions presented the different beneficiary indigenous communities, as well as past and upcoming interventions to be extended to IP communities, she added.
Meanwhile, the DA-4A recently granted intervention to FCAs worth a total of PHP603,382 through the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa (BP2) Program and Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) in Antipolo, Rizal.
BP2 and AMIA Focal Person Cecilia Obligado told the PNA that these programs are among the DA's programs that focus on the development of the agricultural sector and its stabilization against changing times in support of the livelihood of the people in the community, especially those returning to the provinces.
She said the interventions that were distributed included 1,000 chickens and 15 cages from the BP2 Program, 150 bags of chicken feed from AMIA and 400 seedlings of coffee, cacao, mango and ornamental plants from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
Some of the FCA-beneficiaries are the Tulungan sa Kabuhayan ng Calawis Inc., Bunsuran Calawis Women's League, Calawis Punlaang Bayan Inc., Calawis Agricultural Cooperative, San Joseph Free Farmers Association Inc., San Joseph Punlaang Bayan Agro Reforestry Association, Marikina Watershed Kaysakat Association, and APIA United Farmers Association Inc. (PNA)
