Tuguegarao City, Cagayan -The SALAMIN Multi-Purpose Cooperative, a duly registered agrarian reform beneficiary organization (ARBO) based in Tuao, Cagayan and the Tuao District Jail under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 signed the renewed marketing agreement wherein the former shall supply the later with fresh vegetables as one of the needs of the BJMP.
The members of the SALAMIN MPC
are graduates of the Farm Business School (FBS) which was established by the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Agricultural Training Institute of the Department of Agriculture (DA-ATI)
and the local government unit of Tuao (LGU-Tuao). It is aimed to build up the capabilities of
agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) in handling and marketing
their farm products through trainings on bookkeeping, cash flows, market
surveys, labor, product selling, product costing and proper packaging of their
products. Consequently, they have a profitable fresh vegetable business enterprise.
The marketing agreement is based
on the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP). The EPAHP is
one of the banner programs of the Inter-Agency Task Force Zero Hunger, created
under Executive Order No. 101, January 10, 2020, whose objective is to mitigate hunger, ensure
food nutrition security, and establish sustainable agriculture by 2030. Among
the strategies are coordination with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
and to establish marketing arrangements for various Agrarian Reform
Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs). It is also intended to contribute to the
national government efforts in addressing hunger and poverty through the synergy
and convergence of essential services of participating EPAHP partners directly
benefiting the poorer sector of the country. Under this program, the rural
communities are encouraged to enhance social capital and optimize economic
resource base through feeding programs, food-production programs, and essential
support services, including the participation of community-based organizations
in government procurement as partners and/or service providers. This reinforced
convergence and synergy among the different government agencies and other
development partners will revolutionize the journey towards social development.
Through the EPAHP, better engagement with rural communities, enhancement of
social capital and optimization of economic resource base is possible.
The renewal of the marketing agreement between SALAMIN MPC and BJMP-Tuao District Jail was attended by BJMP officials - JINSP Atty. Randy A. Dupilas, District Jail Warden; JOI Kay Anthony Q. Abarriao, Food Service Supervisor; and SALAMIN MPC officers - William A. Olang, Chairman and Tessie C. Bansag, Treasurer. The event was likewise witnessed by DARPO-Cagayan officials led by Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO II) Val M. Cristobal, OIC-PARPO I Pedro Barasi and Novelita Edraira, EPAHP Focal Person. Photos by: Joana Marie Soriano-Cho