AN OFFICIAL from the Department of Agriculture-Davao Region (DA-Davao) Supervising Science Research and Specialist says the agency is supporting the agricultural and fisheries sectors in improving adaptation and mitigation initiatives to address challenges brought by the ongoing climate change.
During the Agribiz Media Forum on Tuesday morning, March 19, 2024, Simeon Fernandez explained the significant role of the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) in farmers as this enhances their productivity and provides the basic needs of people, which is food.
“Kining AMIA, or climate resilience agriculture, nagatumbok ni siya sa, una, ma-enhance ang productivity sa atoang mga mag-uuma ug mangingisda kay ang source sa atoang pagkaon kay gikan sa kaumahan ug sa kadagatan mao gyud na ang basic nato. Dapat ma-develop ang ilahang panginabuhian kay mao na atoang source of food,” the official said.
(AMIA, or climate resilience agriculture, focuses on, first, enhancing the productivity of our farmers and fishermen because the source of our food comes from the farm and ocean, that's the basic. They must develop their livelihood because that is our source of food).
Fernandez also said that there is a need to adjust to the weather patterns as they widely affect the production of the agricultural and fisheries sectors.
According to him, a program was created to help adjust to climate hazards by observing the coping mechanisms or capabilities of barangay associations to identify what program is appropriate as the basis for support.
He added that they have conducted a climate risk vulnerability assessment that will serve as their basis for determining where they will position their programs and identifying what areas are prone to calamities and which areas have potential for production.
Currently, DA-Davao has 15 community bases in the barangay that are composed of 19 farmer associations that conduct pilot tests, which started during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Davao City, it started in Marilog and expanded to selected municipalities in Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, and Davao Occidental.
AMIA does not only focus on one community or product but offers full support for the livelihood, crops, livestock, or whatever is produced in the community, to improve productivity and promote value-adding.
Fernandez shared that the most important strategy in helping farmer associations and fishermen is knowledge, helping them with the use of technology with continuous training.
“Isa sa pinaka-strategy gyud ani is atong knowledge, atoang tabangan sila, ang mga farmer’s association ug fisher folks nga ma-train jud sila sa mga technology, sa atoang mga research, kay maglisud jud sila, and other commodity technologies para ma-support didto sa development nila. So, continuous atoang training dili ni siya one shot,” he concluded.
(One of the most effective strategies is knowledge; let's help them, our farmers and fishermen's associations, to be trained with technology; in our research, they are having a hard time, and other commodity technologies to support them in their development. So, our training is continuous and is not one shot). DEF with reports from Mary Cris Eusebio, DNSC Intern