Problem
Guimaras is the newest and smallest province in Western Visayas, Philippines with 5 municipalities, 98 villages with Jordan as the capital. Generally, its topography is gently sloping to rolling with land elevation from zero to 300 m above sea level. The population is mostly involved in agriculture including fishing, livestock raising, fruit and vegetable production, tree plantation for rubber, fuel and charcoal. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that in the First Semester of 2018 and 2021, the Per Capita Food Threshold (in Php) in Guimaras were 8,824 and 9,924 respectively. The Magnitude of Subsistence Poor Population was 7,600 in the First Semesters of 2018 and 16,400 in 2021. Hence, the need for intervention to assist in providing additional sources of income for the hungry in all communities.
Outcomes
On January 2021, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between PSRTC and the Foursquare Gospel Church of Guimaras under the leadership of Pastor Roy Nunes. The Guimaras Livelihood Empowerment Program (GLEP) with 8 churches was organized to holistically minister to the communities and families within reach. Spiritual development will be undertaken by the churches while livelihood and related programs by PSRTC. An initial revolving fund of Php 40,000.00 was given per church for them to undertake various livelihood activities cognizant to their needs and priorities. Additional funds were added when deemed appropriate. Additional church was added on October 2022. The livelihood projects set up by families per community varied from crops, livestock (pigs, chicken, goats, cows); fisheries (needs of fishermen, selling), and various types of businesses.
An evaluation and planning workshop was conducted on December 9, 2021 and participated by community leaders, College of Agriculture of Guimaras State University (GSU) -Baterna Campus, and PSRTC. The tripartite agreement was formally signed between the 3 Institutions on May 15, 2023. GLEP became a project within GSU program called CagSBUILDS: Gearing towards Agriculture and Economic Sustainability.
Based on the needs identified by the communities, GSU conducted several trainings in 2022 namely organic fertilizer cum plant propagation; Organic poultry and swine production; Goats and large ruminant production and Feed formulation. Meat and fish processing was also conducted.
An Organic Feed Formulation and Utilization was also conducted on May 12, 2023 to provide a technology for feed production using locally available materials. This is to address the dire needs of household animal raisers who are struggling due to high cost of commercial feeds and low cost of animal products.
One of the communities, the Living Hope Empowered Farmers Association, whose members are Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, is already accredited by the Department of Labor and Employment. Their major challenge was the lack of irrigation water during dry months. In response, PSRTC provided funds to purchase a water tank. The members helped each other to set up the water tank and provide pipes going to their respective farms. At present members have access to irrigation water to grow crops during the dry season.
The tripartite partnership is a testament that shows” Working together for common good is Empowerment indeed!