Farmers with small landholdings in Biliran have put into good use much-needed assistance extended to them by the government that boosted the food production capacity of the province.
In a news statement, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said that despite the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), members of the seven DAR-assisted farmers’ organizations in the province of Biliran continue to work in their farms not only to earn but also to contribute to government’s call of ensuring food security in the country.
“The country is now benefiting from the various livelihood assistance extended by the ARBOs [agrarian reform beneficiary organizations] in the past. This, aside from the fact that they still continue to earn income amid the crisis that we are experiencing caused by the pandemic,” DAR Regional Director Stephen Leonidas said in a news statement.
The DAR-Eastern Visayas disclosed that 31 members of the Anislagan Ceramic Agrarian Reform Cooperative (ACARCO) from Naval, as well as 31 members of the BSF Farm Worker’s and Beneficiaries Agrarian Reform Cooperative, from adjacent Biliran town, continue to supply fresh eggs for their respective communities.
The 62 ARBO members are into an egg-layering business which they started when they became recipients of the Convergence of Livelihood Assistance for ARBs (agrarian reform beneficiaries) Project (CLAAP) late last year. CLAAP is a joint project of DAR and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which provides livelihood assistance to both DAR’s agrarian reform beneficiary-members of ARBOs and the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries.
In Kawayan town, 44 members of the Ungale Fish Vendors Association continue their business in dried fish processing. These 44 ARBO members were able to avail of financial assistance from the Land Bank of the Philippines through the Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP) in 2018, which they used as additional capital in sustaining their business.
In the municipality of Cabucgayan, the Balaquid Agrarian Reform Cooperative, which is into rice production and trading, continues to supply rice, contributing to the province’s sufficient supply of the staple food. This cooperative is a recipient of the foreign-assisted Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP).
In Caibiran town, the Nagkakaisang Magsasaka ng Caibiran (NaMaCa) Multi-Purpose Cooperative, sell pork from the swine production of the said ARBO.
Meanwhile, 34 ARB members of the Almeria Seafarers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and nine ARB members of the Villa Rice Farmers Producers Association, both from Almeria town, continue supplying fruits, vegetables and poultry products to local buyers. The two farmer organizations are recipients of Linking Smallholder Farmers to the Markets with Microfinance program.
The activities of these farmers are sustained, amid the current situation, since they only do their agricultural activities in their respective homes, either in front or in their backyards.
The farmers have not encountered any problem in transporting their farm produce since the DAR has provided them assistance through the distribution of quarantine accreditation passes. The quarantine passes enabled them to continue supplying their agricultural products and have easy access in checkpoints even if ECQ is still enforced.
“The department provided them with the agency-issued quarantine accreditation pass, as authorized by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease, for the continuous supply of farm products in town markets, food lanes, and other designated trading centers affected by the ECQ,” Leonidas said.
—