Eastern Samar farmers and municipality representatives visit Mindanao to learn from others’ experience

ACTED facilitated the organisation of learning visits to Mindanao for 39 participants, including municipal councellors, agriculturists, farmer groups who won the Challenge Fund, local service providers (LSPs) and ACTED staff. The participants were split into three groups:

• 18 participants visited the Bansalan Municipality (Davao del Sur) to learn about goat raising, food production, and sloping agricultural land technology, through practical trainings.

• A second group of 13 participants went to VMostril’s farm, in Tupi municipality (South Cotabato) in order to learn how to identify herbs – that can be used for alternative medicine – and how to process them. They also received training on root crop processing into chips.

• The last group, made up of 8 people, was received by the Local Government Units of Makilala and Arakan municipalities in North Cotabato. The local mayors and councellors exchanged their experience on how to get fundings and to dedicate a regular budget for agriculture. The visitors also looked at how the funds were used for rubber and cacao processing.

These exchange visits are part of a wider program of support to the Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAOs) of six targeted municipalities of Eastern Samar, within the scope of ACTED’s livelihoods program, funded by SWS and AFD. For this purpose, ACTED is also providing technical and material support to the MAOs to help them better assist farmers. For instance, ACTED is providing several MAOs with laptops, a motorbike, and a projector.

ACTED also funded the construction of facilities, such as a multi-purpose hall and a mini-grocery center in two municipalities.