DAVAO CITY—Farmers from former North Cotabato villages severely hit by typhoon “Paeng” in October last year received 800 heads of native chickens to restart their livelihood.
The Bangsamoro Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) delivered the free-range native chickens to farmers in some villages of Pikit, Midsayap, Aleosan, Pigcawayan, Kabacan, and Carmen, all of North Cotabato.
Through MAFAR’s Halal Program, 50 farmers received 15 heads each, while members of the Integrated Bangsamoro Agricultural Development Association received 50 heads.
The Bangsamoro government hoped that the farmers would produce again more chickens and help themselves recover from recent calamities.
“The distribution was part of the Ministry’s objective focused on uplifting the living condition of every farmer in the region and aimed to help increase income and have an additional source of living other than cultivating lands,” MAFAR Head of Program, Engr. Saidona Lawan, said.
“This activity is part of our promotion expansion of the production of native chicken, so we are hoping that this intervention will bring a positive outcome to all of you,” Lawan said.
Disumimba D. Rasheed, assistant to the provincial director for Special Geographic Areas (SGA) and Cotabato City, extended his appreciation to the Bangsamoro government project.
“We would like to express our thanks to the MAFAR Regional Office for this intervention. This project will greatly help them because it will be their extra profit aside from farming,” Rasheed said.
“It will also serve as their starting point after they experienced the recent typhoon Paeng,” he added.
Earlier, the beneficiaries attended and underwent a free-range native chicken seminar last year. The recipients of the MAFAR project also expressed their gratitude for the support they received.
The SGA refers to the villages that were formerly under the North Cotabato towns but which are now under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) after their residents chose to belong to the BARMM during the plebiscite in 2019.
These were also the places that were hardest hit by typhoon Paeng in late October of last year.