THE Department of Agriculture (DA) distributed on Thursday, August 19, 2021, assorted vegetable seeds to returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the province of Zamboanga del Norte.
These vegetable seeds were distributed during the Regional Information Campaign for OFWs held at Poblacion village, Salug, Zamboanga del Norte and was attended by 50 returning OFWs from different municipalities of the province.
George Vallente, Zamboanga del Norte agricultural provincial coordinator, said that the Micro Agri-Kabuhayan para sa balikbayan program was organized through the partnership between DA’s regional office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) to provide the OFWs livelihood and business.
“The DA is primarily intended for food production. There are various programs of the DA that can cater to the needs of the farmers, such as provision of planting materials, machinery, and other needed inputs,” Vallente said.
He also encouraged the OFWs who are farmers to enroll in the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture to avail of DA projects and programs.
Those who served as resource speakers during the activity were Owwa Regional Director Ron Lionel Bartolome, Victoriano Joseph from the DA Agricultural Credit Policy Council, and Bayani Valencia from the DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division. (SunStar Zamboanga)