DA eyes to provide assistance to import-stricken farmers in Region 10.

 

Malaybalay City – The Department Agriculture is poised to provide agricultural projects to farmers and producers adversely affected by importation through the Competitive Enhancement Measures Fund (CEMF), as provided under RA 8800, also known as the Safeguard Measures Act.

In coordination with the Department of Agriculture-Region 10 (DA-10), the Project Development Service (PDS) of the DA spearheaded an information campaign to apprise Northern Mindanao’s farmers on the CEMF implementing guidelines, Wednesday, October 16 at the Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex (NMACLRC).

As provided under RA 8800, 50% of the fees, charges and safeguard duties collected on imports shall be earmarked as competitiveness enhancement measures for industries affected by increased import.

For 2024, more than P4-billion safeguard duties were collected as CEMF, readily accessible for funding agricultural industries most affected by importation – coffee, chicken, onion, bovine (cattle), processed meat and pork industries.

Of the said allocation 59.29% is appropriated for the coffee industry, 40.40% is set aside for the chicken industry while the remaining fund is shared among the other three industries mentioned.

Relatively, the DA is encouraging farmers’ cooperative/associations, and micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in the aforesaid industries to propose agricultural projects to enhance their operational capacity and competitiveness.

Depending on their qualification, proponents may be granted a project up to P50-million worth of project either for production, postharvest, processing, marketing and infrastructure, and support equipment and facilities.

On its part, the DA-10 will be endorsing projects proposed by farmers from Northern Mindanao to the DA’s PDS for possible funding under CEMF. The DA-10 will also assist in validating the proposed CEMF projects in the region.

The CEMF projects may be availed by coffee, chicken, onion, bovine (cattle) farmers and producers of processed meat and pork to complement other DA projects to scale up their operations.# (ATT)