Agricultural project to benefit the indigenous communities in Southern Philippines Mar 26th, 2018   [viewed 24 times]

(Photo: Felix Mittermeier/Pixabay)

The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) through its flagship project, Convergence on Value Chain Enhancement for Rural Growth and Development (ConVERGE) has included among its priority targets of the project the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) tribes in Mindanao, the third largest Philippine Island.

The agency is not only targeting the agrarian reform beneficiaries of the project but also the different tribes in Mindanao, Joie Ceballos, the spokesperson of the government's Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), said.

These tribes include the Higaonon, Mamanwa, Manobo, Tubano, Tausog, and Mandaya in Northeastern Mindanao; the Subanon of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte; and the Tala-andig and Camiguin natives of Northern Mindanao.

The project aims to reduce poverty incidence and the vulnerability of farmers and the indigenous peoples through crop diversification and processing of raw materials to increase farm income, productivity and competitiveness of farmers, he said.

The IFAD project is implemented in the three regions in Mindanao -- Caraga (Region 13), Northern Mindanao (Region 10) and Zamboanga Peninsula (Region lX). These areas are producing rice, rubber, coffee, and cassava, among others.

More than 300,000 small farm owners in the three regions are expected to benefit economically by assisting and guiding them in terms of product development and market linkage, Ceballos said.

“The project is now ongoing in 11 agrarian reform community clusters in the three regions in Mindanao. (Antonio Manaytay, Email: antonio.manaytay@yahoo.com)