SORSOGON CITY, Sorsogon (PIA) - - Following successful partnerships last year, some nine Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Organizations (ARBOs) have continuously provided food supplies to state-run institutions and a private hospital in the province.
Of these ARBOs, three forged a deal with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) while six other cooperatives renewed their marketing contracts with the Sorsogon Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services Cooperative (SMMGHHSC).
The three ARBOs were Salvacion Farmers Development Cooperative (SAFADECO), Capuy-Basud Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CABAMUCO), and Jupi-San Vicente Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries and Farmer Association (JUSAVARBEFA) of Gubat. The other six ARBOs include Sogoy Natural Agricultural Grower (SINAG) and Mayon Farmers Association (MAFA) in Castilla, Sorsogon Agro-Aquatic Development Cooperative (SAADECO) and Maharlika Development Cooperative (MADECO) in Sorsogon City, and Calateo Farmers Association (CAFA) and Gubat Special ARC Farmers Association (GSARCFA) in Gubat town.
The successful partnership comes between the ARBOs, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the SMMGHHSC, and the BJMP in 2021.
Sorsogon agrarian reform Chief Nida A. Santiago said these DAR-assisted ARBOs earned around P684,203 last year from milled rice, homemade food, and vegetables grown in their farms.
“The farmers were able to meet the agricultural product requirements of the city jail, Gubat district jail, and Irosin district jail. Food supplies included eggs, sweet potatoes, cassava, vegetables such as bottle gourd (upo), eggplant, cucumber, bitter gourd (ampalaya), and string beans, as well as processed meats such as longganisa, tocino, and lumpia,” Santiago said.
She said that over 100 sacks of rice were provided by MAFA for hospital patients of SMMGHHSC aside from 10 sacks of rice per month from SAADECO and CABAMUCO.
"This kind of collaboration is an opportunity for our ARBOs to showcase their products and expand their market opportunities. We thank our partners for this opportunity," Santiago added.
"Our jails are considered the transition homes for our persons deprived of liberty. They may have been judged regarding their offenses punishable by law, but still, we should not deprive them of their basic need for nutritious and healthy foods," said Senior Jail Officer 4 Randy A. Cerdiña, who committed to regularly buy more food supplies from the agrarian reform farmers.
Meanwhile, Dr. Roland Hermo of SMMGHHSC believes that the marketing options given to these organizations will spur economic activity in the communities where they are located.
"Likewise, it will increase farmers' farm production and household income owing to the market demand of institutional buyers," he added.
Under the terms, farmers will supply the institutional buyers with a year's worth of rice, vegetables, root crops, and other food necessities. The latter has to specify what they need and pay for the deliveries in cash.
The memorandum of agreement was signed on February 15, 2022, in Sorsogon City.
Said collaboration is part of the government’s Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty program, which aims to provide food security and nutrition to the poor], and to enhance agricultural production. (BAR/PIA5/Sorsogon/with reports from DAR5)
