By Marcelo M. Pedalino
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, June 8 (PIA) --
Around 200 farmers and fishermen coming from 16 towns of this province got
their long-awaited start-up capital for their agriculture-based ventures
yesterday at the city gym here.
The loan assistance of P 10,000 per beneficiary without interest and collateral, was coursed through the Agrikultura: Kaagapay ng Bayang Pinoy Program (AKBay) program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in coordination with the various local government units and the agriculture and fishery councils at the national down to the municipal levels.
AKBay was funded by the Japanese government under the Japan Grant Assistance for the Food Security Project for underprivileged farmers, and was meant to be lent to the farmers as initial investment for their agri-business, said Joseph De los Santos, Chief of Resource Management Section, National Agricultural and Fishery Council.
“Like any other debt that one has borrowed, this one has to be repaid,” De Los Santos emphasized, stressing the character of the distributed funds as a credit facility and not a dole-out.
As stipulated in the AKBay program guidelines, the money received must be spent for the recipient’s approved project proposal in five days after receipt, to finance projects such as piggery, poultry, high-value crops, or tilapia production, but most ventures were more on backyard piggery, it was learned.
The turn-over of AKBay funds was witnessed by eight out of 16 mayors of the recipient municipalities classified from 4th to 6th class.
The other eight towns were represented by their municipal agriculture officers, agriculture technicians, and budget officer, such as Bontoc, Limasawa, Libagon, Padre Burgos, San Francisco, San Ricardo, Saint Bernard, and Malitbog.
Arsenio Fortin, Regional Technical Director-Operations Division at the DA regional office, challenged the beneficiaries to do multi-cropping to maximize resources and double or triple prospective income on harvest time. Fortin represented DA 8 Regional Director Antonio Gerundio.
Dr. Wilfredo Madrona, Chairman of the Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC) delivered the welcome talk, while Marina Gador, Provincial Agriculturist and AKBay provincial coordinator, introduced the participants from the different towns, at an average of 12 recipients per town. (PIA 8, Southern Leyte)
The loan assistance of P 10,000 per beneficiary without interest and collateral, was coursed through the Agrikultura: Kaagapay ng Bayang Pinoy Program (AKBay) program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in coordination with the various local government units and the agriculture and fishery councils at the national down to the municipal levels.
AKBay was funded by the Japanese government under the Japan Grant Assistance for the Food Security Project for underprivileged farmers, and was meant to be lent to the farmers as initial investment for their agri-business, said Joseph De los Santos, Chief of Resource Management Section, National Agricultural and Fishery Council.
“Like any other debt that one has borrowed, this one has to be repaid,” De Los Santos emphasized, stressing the character of the distributed funds as a credit facility and not a dole-out.
As stipulated in the AKBay program guidelines, the money received must be spent for the recipient’s approved project proposal in five days after receipt, to finance projects such as piggery, poultry, high-value crops, or tilapia production, but most ventures were more on backyard piggery, it was learned.
The turn-over of AKBay funds was witnessed by eight out of 16 mayors of the recipient municipalities classified from 4th to 6th class.
The other eight towns were represented by their municipal agriculture officers, agriculture technicians, and budget officer, such as Bontoc, Limasawa, Libagon, Padre Burgos, San Francisco, San Ricardo, Saint Bernard, and Malitbog.
Arsenio Fortin, Regional Technical Director-Operations Division at the DA regional office, challenged the beneficiaries to do multi-cropping to maximize resources and double or triple prospective income on harvest time. Fortin represented DA 8 Regional Director Antonio Gerundio.
Dr. Wilfredo Madrona, Chairman of the Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC) delivered the welcome talk, while Marina Gador, Provincial Agriculturist and AKBay provincial coordinator, introduced the participants from the different towns, at an average of 12 recipients per town. (PIA 8, Southern Leyte)
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