DAR extends livelihood to Zamboanga farmers

By ROCAYA SUMNDAD OTICAL

March 5, 2019

DAR Zamboanga Sibugay provincial chief Mohammad Dassan Adju leads the turn-over of livelihood aid worth P1.2 million to officers and members of DELCOFACCO Cooperative. (Supplied) 

ILIGAN CITY: A farmers’ cooperative in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay has recently received a million-peso worth of assistance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The Del Monte Coconut Farmers Credit Cooperative (DELCOFACCO) in the Buug town of Zamboanga Sibugay received a hauling truck, 20 units of weighing scales, and rubber boots for the coop’s copra buy and sell business.

The assistance package which totaled P1.2 million was funded through the Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets (LinkSFarM) project.

LinkSFarM has chosen the municipality of Buug as its pilot area in the province.

The project will benefit the coconut farmers and farmers’ associations from the said town through capacity building, marketing assistance, and agricultural extension.

The coop is also a beneficiary of the Village-Level Farm-focused Enterprise Development (VLFED) program for their coco coffee processing and manufacturing.

DELCOFACCO received a total of P550,000 of financial aid from the DAR: P300,000 for the construction of the coco coffee processing center; P235,000 for product enhancement and trainings; and P15,000 for product laboratory testing.

With the newly-constructed processing center, the coop can now manufacture safe, quality and market-ready coco coffee products and increase the volume of its production.

The processing center will also prevent contamination due to destructive elements such as insects.

During the turn-over ceremony last February 27, DAR provincial chief Mohammad Dassan Adju emphasized to the coop the role being undertaken by the DAR after land distribution.

“The DAR will continue doing its function of facilitating development, especially in rural communities,” Adju said.

DELCOFACCO Chairman Violeta Cordero expressed her gratitude to the DAR for the assistance extended to the coop.

“Having been chosen as the beneficiary of the project gave us so much pride,” she said. She also assured the agency of the coop’s effort to maintain and sustain the project.

LinkSFarm and VLFED are nationwide projects of the DAR which both aim to empower farmers into becoming agro-entrepreneurs.

Other persons who attended the event include PARPO I ELizardo Villaseca, CARPO Anthony Teves, HEA Joevelia Nayre, MARPO Lorna Salera, VLFED and LinkSFarM provincial coordinators Carol Banawa and Engr. Gina Calunsag and other municipal and barangay officials. (dargovph)