DA-SAAD 10 musters the LGUs across the region to craft said Program’s priority projects in prospect assisted LGUs for the next six years starting 2023.
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – As groundwork for the proposed Phase 2 implementation of the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program of the Department of Agriculture, SAAD Region 10 convened 29 LGUs in the region for the program’s Extension and Expansion Planning Workshop.
The workshop is a blended activity attended onsite and online by the Provincial Agriculturists, Provincial Veterinarians, Municipal and City Agriculturists, and staff from the Municipal and City Agriculture Offices of the different LGUs from the provinces of Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, and Camiguin from February 21-23, 2022.
Primarily, the three-day planning workshop was aimed at programming and streamlining SAAD priority projects in prospect assisted LGUs in the region, for the next six years starting 2023.
Ms. Lana May Racines, SAAD Region 10 Focal Person discussed the criteria for the selection of SAAD-implementing LGUs and beneficiary Farmers Associations (FAs), SAAD Program components, and priority livelihood projects in the said gathering.
Fifth and six class municipalities and those with the highest poverty incidence rate in Northern Mindanao are preferred for inclusion in the SAAD Region 10 phase 2 implementation.
Registered FAs with members duly enrolled to the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), shall be eligible for the SAAD assistance.
With the anticipated extension and expansion, the SAAD Program ultimately intends to assist beneficiary FAs in the region to establish community-based enterprise by producing suited agricultural products in their area.
The program shall provide production-to-marketing support in capacitating the FAs.
As a strategy, the FAs will be encouraged to practice farm consolidation schemes in implementing SAAD agri-enterprise projects.
In his message, DA-Region 10 Regional Executive Director, Carlene C. Collado urged the LGUs to implement applicable and doable SAAD projects in their towns.
“We are counting on the full cooperation of the LGUs and the local agriculture offices to carry out SAAD projects in your localities. We must strive to sustain those projects to improve the farmers’ livelihood and ease the poverty situation in your towns” he said.
Director Collado also shared the OneDA Programs and Projects being implemented, and to be implemented by the DA-attached agencies and bureaus in Northern Mindanao for possible participation of the SAAD-assisted LGUs.
For its phase 2 implementation, SAAD will be implementing strictly need-based projects, hence the LGUs’ inputs and FAs’ participation in programming SAAD projects in the region.
DA-Region 10 Technical Director for Operations, Carlota S. Madriaga said, the SAAD program has been instrumental, one way or another, in addressing the poverty situation in the region, in its phase 1 implementation.
Gearing for SAAD extension and expansion, she enjoined the LGUs to implement the most-needed projects by underprivileged farmers in their localities.
DA-Region 10 Field Operations Division’s Chief, Mr. Audy Maagad also attended the workshop along with SAAD Region 10 Regional and Provincial Project Management Support Offices’ staff, and DA-RFO 10 Provincial Operations Center Chiefs and staff.#(ATalib)