3 minute read
MinDA, partners sign deal for livelihood opportunities
An LSA also serves as models for applicable agriculture technologies and agri-products or by-products’ processing technologies, it added. Mindanao News
For an existing farm to become LSA, applicants must undergo different processing stages, starting with an endorsement from the local government.
Advertisement
Noemi Beth G. Macario, ATI-10 OIC-assistant center director, said the institute has been adapting to modern communication and information technologies since last year in order to promote agricultural products and also entice the young generation to engage in farming.
“We partner the youth with the parents so that the youth can learn from them the invaluable wisdom of going into farming, while the parents can learn modern technologies,” Macario said.
On January 29, ATI-10 launched three books that chronicled the best practices and success stories of youths engaging in farming, including former communist rebels who availed of ATI-10 programs. (PNA)
MinDA, partners sign deal for livelihood opportunities By Che Palicte
DAVAO CITY - The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and its partners signed a memorandum of agreement Tuesday to kick-start agribusiness programs that would provide livelihood opportunities to underdeveloped and post-conflict communities in Mindanao.
MinDA Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Piñol said the agreement with the Central Mindanao University (CMU) and iFresh Corporation that was signed in Maramag, Bukidnon province, aims to help poor communities and former rebels to become productive and selfsufficient entrepreneurs.
Piñol said the agribusiness initiative is also open to former overseas Filipino workers and victims of earthquakes which hit Mindanao last year.
“To sustain the peace and development gains of the Duterte administration, we have started these intervention programs to help transform war zones into economic development zones and deliver meaningful socio
economic interventions through access to livelihood opportunities,” he said.
Dubbed as “New Harmonizing Opportunities for People Empowerment” (New Hope) Program, Piñol said the initiative enables MinDA to collaborate with state universities and colleges, and other higher education institutions in developing training centers across Mindanao.
“These centers will offer short training courses on agribusiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy,” Piñol said.
Maramag Mayor Josel Joel Doromal said the New Hope program is consistent with the Executive Order 70, which instituted the “whole-of-nation” to address local communist conflicts.
“These projects address development issues in all fronts -- from insurgency, livelihood, to peace and order,” Doromal said.
Following the signing of the agreement, Piñol said Central Mindanao University will house a center for learning, research and propagation for free-range chicken and other poultry varieties.
Dr. Jesus Antonio Derije, CMU president, said that once established the center will also be positioned as a tourism destination with complete biosecurity features.
“We are looking at this facility as a ‘chicken haven’, which will showcase local varieties of chicken in Mindanao,” Derije said.
After receiving training in the centers, recipients will be enrolled in the Livelihood in Villages for Economic Upliftment (LOVE-U), a grassroots program where beneficiaries are provided with the necessary capital to jumpstart their respective agribusiness ventures.
MinDA, together with iFresh as private sector partner, will be assisting in marketing and in linking these communities to potential buyers in both local and international markets.
Piñol said that a business group from Qatar has shown interest in buying free-range chicken from Mindanao.
“This is simple and practical agriculture. We need to give people the opportunity to raise chicken not just for food, but as a way to make a living,” he added. (PNA)
