GUIMBA, Nueva Ecija – Seven farmers' organizations entered into a memorandum of agreement with the local government of this town for food supply under the Department of Agriculture's Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program Friday.
Mayor Jose Dizon signed the MOA for the LGU with officials of irrigators associations (IAs) that included Glorya sa Bagong Milenyo by its president Mario Blanco; Manacasanta-Guimba by Apolinario Liwanag; Nacatamaaco by Dante Lazatin; Guimba Victoria by Gil Villanueva; BM Capuso by Jimmy Natividad;
Ubbog Ti Biag by Alex Rimocal; and Guimba Licab by Alvin Labiano.
The ceremonies were witnessed by NIA-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System officials and staff led by department manager Rosalinda Bote and Division V manager Rogelio Macatula, Jr.
Under the agreement, the IAs will provide sufficient supplies of farm products, specifically rice and vegetables, to the LGU as maybe stated in the purchase order issuances of the latter.
Dizon lauded the agency's effort of linking farmers to market, particularly the LGUs that for its part also needs supplies for their constituents.
Being an attached agency to the Department of Agriculture tasked under EPAHP program to provide the necessary assistance to farmer organizations for increasing farm productivity and ensuring food security, NIA-UPRIIS exerts efforts to establish convergence of the IAs with the LGUs and private institutions, said Bote.
“In the EPAPH program, IAs do not only offer farm products such as rice and vegetables but also livestock so that they could sell their harvests at the right market price. Thus, the income generated from this may aid in the IA operation expense,” she said.
Dizon hopes to share and contribute to the economic advancement of the farmers as they are his own constituents.
These collaborative efforts of government, even with private institutions assure the proper address of the major challenges identified in our society: hunger mitigation, food security and poverty reduction, according to NIA-UPRIIS.
“NIA remains in support of the farmers' needs towards the improvement of the quality of their lives," it added.
