Alleviating rural poverty in Samar thru goat, sheep raising

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
February 7, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Agriculture has taken another major initiative in its quest to reduce poverty in the three Samar provinces. This time, the agency is banking not just on crops, but more on livestock, particularly the sunrise small ruminant industry.

Regional Executive Director Antonio Gerundio informed that presently, the DA-8 is spearheading the implementation of the Samar Island Small Ruminant Rural Enterprise Development (SA-SR-RED) Project.

This is a multi-agency five-year (2013-2017) project focusing on goat and sheep production, RED Gerundio said. It has two distinct components: the Samar Island Goat Enterprise (SIGE) Development and the Samar Island Sheep (SAIS) Production Rural Enterprise Development (RED).

The project aims to alleviate poverty in the rural areas by transforming goat and sheep raising from a subsistence type of farm activity into a viable goat and sheep-based rural enterprise.

“Goat and sheep raising is now a highly profitable enterprise, thus, a reliable livelihood option especially for the farmers in the countryside,” DA-8 Regional Technical Director and Project Proponent Wilson A. Cerbito said.

As a preparatory activity, DA first conducted the Samar Island Small Ruminant Enterprise Development Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshop and Pre-Implementation Meeting on January 30-31, 2013 at the Press Hall, Leyte Park Resort and Hotel, Tacloban City.

All identified project key players were represented in the said forum comprised of DA-8’s top officials, research and extension experts, coordinating officers and focal persons, provincial, city and municipal agriculturists and veterinarians, agricultural academe officials, goat and sheep raisers, and representatives from the Non-Government Associations and people’s organizations.

The meeting resulted in the development of a strategic action plan for 2013, the identification of focal areas to be developed as the multiplier and production sites at the provincial and municipal levels and the selection of farmer-partners. More importantly, commitment of support was expressed by the project partners.

“A strong cooperation and support from all stakeholders is what we need the most to successfully implement this project,” RTD Cerbito said.

He disclosed that from the total multi-year budget of P10 million, P2 million has been allotted for year 2013 to undertake priority implementation activities. Each project component will have an allocation of P1 million for the year, he added.

Meanwhile, RTD Cerbito enjoined the group to learn from the experiences gained from the Rural Enterprise Development (RED) thru Innovative Goat Production Systems Project which was implemented in 2007 with Villaba and Tabango, Leyte as the pilot municipalities.

“The RED Project gains must be rolled out to a wider application region wide. This time, with the Samar Island development agenda, we’ll do it even better because we will inject new but complementary extension approaches. This only means that we are not starting from scratch. We already have a good foundation in terms of project implementation arrangements plus a much improved inputs therefore, we have greater chance to succeed,” he concluded.

Meantime, Ms Lydia Aquino, a goat raiser from Eastern Samar said, I feel very happy and blessed to have been invited to this forum because aside from the wider spectrum of knowledge that I have gained in the past couple of days, I was able to realize that there is still a lot more in store for me in terms of further improving and expanding my goat production project through the SA-SR-RED.”