THREE farmers associations in the province of Zamboanga del Norte has earned a cumulative income of P810,630 this month through the assistance of the Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD).
The San Juan Farmers Association (FA) of Sergio Osmeña town sold 3,552 kilos of dressed chicken worth P 408,480, to local store outlets and meat shops across neighboring municipalities, while De Venta Perla FA and Canibungan FA of Polanco sold 1,694 kilos of chicken worth P194,800, and 1,803 kilos of chicken worth P207,350.00, respectively.
The chickens came from the Broiler Chicken Raising Livelihood Project of DA-9 SAAD Program, which provided them livelihood interventions.
“This is our third roll over of the project and one of our biggest earnings this year, even when we have Covid-19 threats. We thank the SAAD for the opportunity to be able to put up this kind of project for us. We faced some challenges during the implementation of this project, but this really helped us a lot financially. We commit our best to maintain this project and really give our time to make this successful for our association and our communities,” said Maria Fe Mandaya, auditor of the San Juan FA in Sergio Osmeña.
Cathrine Aranton, SAAD local area coordinator, said the three associations have been working and preparing for harvest when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and the concerns of marketing their produce became a challenge for them.
“For our part, we assured to stay connected with the farmers through open communications via text message or calls during the pandemic. We want to make sure the associations have a source of income in the midst of a crisis. We really are grateful for the support and assistance that the LGUs (Local Government Units) of Sergio Osmeña and Polanco municipalities have provided. The LGU transportation services provided to them were able to bring their products from the farm directly to the marketplace and meat shops,” Aranton said.
Aranton said that the three farmer associations are among many others in the the province Zamboanga del Norte, which have once again enjoyed the fruits of their labor, hard work and commitment to sustain the livelihood project provided by the DA-SAAD. (SunStar Zamboanga)