DA seeks higher funding for special agriculture development sites

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) may double the budget for its Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program for next year, driven by the effectiveness of the project.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the proposed budget for the SAAD program next year is P1.72 billion, more than double the P721 billion budget for this year.

The DA’s poverty reduction program targets the 40 poorest provinces in the country. It seeks to identify the weaknesses of an area, its potential in food production, and provide solutions for such.

Based on earlier reports, The Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA) recently cited the SAAD program in a report, as it has helped the rural poor through programs involving poultry raising, food processing, fish drying, and fish packaging. 

Piñol said the program uses poverty incidence as a benchmark of its effectiveness.

“When we implement the SAAD project in the provinces, my instruction was to make sure that there would be a poverty reduction in two years,” Piñol said.

Provinces enrolled in the program would be covered for two years, with 10 new provinces enrolled in the program every year.

The first 10 provinces of the program enrolled last year would graduate next year.

Piñol said the proposed P1.72 billion budget would cover 30 provinces by next year.

Among the 10 provinces enrolled in the program last year were Apayao, Negros Oriental, Northern and Eastern Samar, Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sarangani.

Provinces to be enrolled this year are Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Masbate, Siquijor, Southern Leyte, Sulu, Bukidnon, Compostela Valley and Sultan Kudarat.

Among those to be enrolled next year are Kalinga, Mountain Province, Occidental Mindoro, Negros Occidental, Antique, Bohol, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur.