THE Department of Agri-culture (DA) said it will allocate at least P800 million a year to fund programs aimed at helping Filipino farmers in the poorest provinces.
“That’s the target. That’s in line with the direction of [President Duterte]. Our farmers should be empowered and that should be our view to lift them from poverty,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary Lerey A. Panes told reporters recently.
“At the end of his [Mr. Duterte] term, you should be proud that you are a farmer and you’re earning more than enough,” Panes added.
He said the government is targeting to reduce the poverty incidence in the 10 “priority regions” by at least 25 percent within two years via the agency’s flagship program, dubbed as Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD). Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has earlier targeted to achieve this in three years.
“We want the program to have an impact in two years. We will monitor and evaluate after two years to determine how the interventions of the DA affected the provinces,” Panes said.
Under the SAAD, 10 identified priority provinces per year will receive livelihood programs and other related support from the DA amounting to at least P80 million, he said.
“The DA would provide them with livelihood programs suitable in each region that would have an immediate impact on farmers. It may be a hog program, vegetable or dairy program, as long as the business is viable in the region,” Panes said.
The 10 poorest regions, which the DA has included in the SAAD program, are Apayao, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Cotabato, Sarangani, Maguindanao, Eastern Samar, Western Samar and Northern Samar.
Panes said the DA would identify 10 more provinces to support under the SAAD program every year. The goal is to increase the number to 60 provinces before Mr. Duterte steps down from office in 2022.
Throughout the implementation of the program, the DA would request a bigger budget for the SAAD, the bulk of which would be given to new enrollees in the program.
“Actually, the P80 million to P90 million budget per province is the minimum. We could always submit a budget proposal every year to make sure that there would be no interruption of support to those who were given already,” Panes said.
The DA has already started implementing the SAAD program in the provinces of Apayao and Negros, Panes added.
“This week, on Monday and Tuesday, [DA officials] will go to Lanao and Zamboanga to meet with the provincial directors there to brief them about the SAAD,” Panes said.
Last month the DA had also unveiled a P200-million loan program which the 10 poorest provinces in the SAAD program could tap to augment their budgets.