DAR to implement P56.6-M livelihood projects in North Cotabato

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will implement projects worth P56.6 million in four towns in North Cotabato.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO) Marion Abella said the projects, implemented under the DAR-Mindanao Sustainable Agrarian and Agriculture Development (MinSAAD) program, seeks to address poverty issues in the settlement areas through competitive and sustainable agriculture based on value chain analysis.

Value-chain analysis looks at every step a business goes through, from raw materials to the eventual end-user. The goal is to deliver maximum value for the least possible total cost.

"The DAR-MinSAAD project will focus on sustainable agricultural development; delivery of basic support services, effective governance and social protection, among others, to ease poverty in marginalized target  areas in the municipalities of Alamada, Banisilan, Pigcawayan, and Tulunan ” Abella said.

He said that local government units (LGUs) would play a key role in implementing the projects that seek to enhance the agricultural productivity and increase income of farmer-beneficiaries and other small scale farmers.

“For instance, Banisilan LGU will implement P31 million for rubber production, P5 million for coffee production, P3.3 million for cacao production, and P504,350 oil palm production. The scope of projects includes processing and marketing of the farm products," he said.

Alamada town would implement P3.7 million worth of projects for coffee production and a P7.7 million for rubber production; Pigcawayan, P2.9 million for rubber production; and Tulunan, P2.5 million for rubber production, as well.

"The DAR expects that these projects will help increase household income of farmers and their organizations on a sustainable basis through more profitable income-generating activities," Abella said.

Abella said the project would deal with four areas of interventions --provision of agriculture, agribusiness and agroforestry development support with farm-to-market roads and bridges; irrigation and common service facilities as subcomponent; provision of rural water supply; institutional development support; and project management.

DAR-MinSAAD project is a loan program from the government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.