FAO helps farmers in conflict-torn Mindanao catch planting season

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched an assistance program to allow farmers in conflict-torn and disaster-hit Central Mindanao catch up with the first cropping season of the year.

 

In a statement Wednesday, the United Nations agency said it allocated $470,000 to help 5,000 families in Maguindanao and North Cotabato. Under the project, the organization will distribute 1,410 sacks of rice seeds and 3,590 sacks of corn seeds as well as vegetable seeds, fertilizer and hand tools.

 

“We started the distribution of inputs with an initial 350 sacks of rice seeds, vegetable seeds and fertilizer delivered to farmers in Shariff Aguak and Datu Unsay municipalities,” said FAO Project Manager and Farming System Specialist Cesar Galvan. 

 

The first tranche will supposedly cover about 175 hectares of farmlands and yield at least 612.5 metric tons of unmilled rice. This includes lowland vegetables that can be harvested within 21 to 30 days. 

 

FAO will conduct workshops and training activities to help beneficiaries improve productivity while strengthening capacity to cope with future shocks and emergencies.

 

"The restoration of livelihoods and agricultural production in a timely manner is a crucial first step to restoring food security in the area," said José Luis Fernandez, FAO Representative in the Philippines.

 

More than 125,000 people across 15 municipalities in Maguindanao were displaced when hostilities broke out between the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and government troops early this year, according to FAO.

 

"We were in an evacuation center for about three months. We had to leave our farms and backyard gardens. Our crops were destroyed by drought. We were not able to sell most of our livestock as they died either of hunger or disease," said Tuka Sumalay, a farmer from Shariff Aguak.

 

The organization is also working with other development partners and government agencies to help 10,000 farmers and fisherfolk affected by armed encounters in central and western Mindanao. – Keith Richard Mariano/VS, GMA News