THE earth minerals supplier of a cement manufacturer in this town has started preparing a hinterland community for goat raising as a livelihood.
Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) recently organized a training workshop for 38 members of the Kalipunan ng Liping Pilipina (Kalipi) Women’s Association, introducing them to goat farming and providing them with basic skills and farm economics.
The company is set to turn over the first batch of goats to the upland women in Barangay Tañañas by the fourth quarter of this year, according to Zeny Cabusas, SEDC community relations coordinator.
She said the training, held at the Tañañas session hall, had municipal agriculturist Nelson Soronio as resource person, assisted by Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) staff members Lanie Amante and Antonina Paradero.
The workshop covered topics ranging from types of goat breeds, goat housing, feeds and feeding, common goat diseases, kidding to breeding management, Cabusas said.
The MAO team also coached the participants on how to avail themselves of and maximize existing programs, such as insurance, vaccination and vegetable seed distribution, she added.
Breeding area
Kalipi has started identifying the breeding area and evaluating 24 beneficiaries, who will be grouped into four clusters based on their purok affiliations.
Each participant will receive one doe, while each cluster will share a buck to facilitate breeding, said Mitzie Almira Carin, SEDC division manager for human resource and administration.
“We aim to distribute the first set of goats before year-end,” Carin said, adding that recipients must build proper goat shelters, provide suitable forage and ensure consistent animal care.
To sustain the program, each beneficiary must return the first two does once they are four months old. These will be given to the next in line, while all succeeding offspring will remain with the original recipient.
“Dako kaayo’g tabang ang training para namo. Kulang diay ang among kaalam sa pagpamuhi,” said Anabil Canoy, Kalipi president. (The training was a big help for us. We realized we still had much to learn in livestock raising.)
“Salamat sa Solid Earth nga napilian mi. Dako kaayung tabang ni namo’ng mga kababayen nga makaabag sa among pamilya ug makapa-tungha sa among mga anak,” she added. (Thank you, Solid Earth, for choosing us. This is a great help for us women to support our families and send our children to school.)
The program traces its roots to a joint initiative of SEDC and Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. in 2008. It has since benefited several upland communities in San Fernando, including Bugho, Tonggo
and Tinubdan.