Road to Zero Hunger: A Timeline of the EPAHP Project in Pangasinan
Introduction
The Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) is an inter-agency government program initiated by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger (IATF-ZH). Previously known as the Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty in 2016, the program was renamed EPAHP in 2019 to involve over 25 government agencies, which included the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
In Pangasinan, the EPAHP was implemented in 2019. During this year, the DAR Provincial Office began meeting with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Provincial Offices Urdaneta City in preparation for establishing marketing agreements with agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs).
When the pandemic hit the country in 2020, the EPAHP project became essential more than ever. By mid-year, DAR and BJMP entered into a memorandum of agreement, which enabled the latter to establish marketing contracts with DAR-assisted cooperatives. This humble undertaking would set the stage for bigger endeavors in the fight against hunger and poverty in the province.
From zero, the province is now slowly helping the nation achieve its vision of a nation where no citizen experiences hunger. At present, the province recognizes seven (7) ARBOs which have entered into their respective marketing agreements with four (4) institutional buyers. A cumulative total of ₱263 million worth of product sales has been sold by ARBOs to buyers in the name of EPAHP.
“Ang EPAHP ay isa sa mga pinakaimportanteng project hindi lang sa ating department pero sa lahat ng ahensya,” Director IV and concurrent PARPO II Maria Ana B. Francisco said. “Sabi ng (Presidente Ferdinand Marcos Jr.), na pinili niya talaga na maging secretary ng DA. And that he will remain as secretary as DA hanggang sa hindi tumaas ang antas ng agriculture sa bansa.”
Gualsic Agriculture Cooperative
Gualsic Agriculture Cooperative is a DAR-assisted ARBO based in Alcala. With the majority of its members being vegetable growers, it is almost as if the group was made for the BJMP in Urdaneta City since the government agency is in constant need of fresh vegetables for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
The cooperative was a Farm Business School site in CY 2019, and has been practicing collective marketing of vegetables ever since. Conveniently, one of its members owns a stall in the Urdaneta City Trading Post (known to locals as simply “Bagsakan”). Vegetable-growing ARBO members collectively benefit from collectively marketing their harvest in this stall.
On Independence Day 2021, the Department of Agrarian Reform Pangasinan delivered freshly-sourced produce from local ARBOs, including Gualsic Agriculture Cooperative, to the BJMP in Urdaneta for persons deprived of liberty.
When the ARBO linked with the BJMP in 2020, the members had a stable source of income even during the pandemic. In addition to assuring profits to farmer-members, the fresh vegetables purchased from the ARBO guarantee nutritious meals for PDLs. This strategic partnership between Gualsic Agriculture Cooperative and the BJMP in Urdaneta City hit two birds with one stone, reducing hunger and poverty from both sides.
To date, Gualsic Agriculture Cooperative is one of the ARBOs with the highest gross product sales under the project in Pangasinan. As of August 2022, the cooperative has sold ₱1.75 million* worth of produce to BJMP since their marketing contract in 2020.
Because of its commitment to applying its learnings from the Farm Business School, and because of its continuous marketing contract with the BJMP, the Gualsic Agriculture Cooperative has been chosen by the DAR Pangasinan to be the first recipient of the EPAHP project hard component this CY 2022.
The ARBO is slated to receive two units of a motorcycle with a carrier (kolong-kolong) and 33 50-kilogram bags of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) this CY 2022. The 2 units kolong-kolong are hoped to further aid in the group’s collective marketing efforts.
Bantog Samahang Nayon Multipurpose Cooperative
Bantog Samahang Nayon Multipurpose Cooperative (BSNMPC) in Asingan is one of the most successful ARBOs in the whole nation. In 2019, it was adapted as the ARBO beneficiary of the Village-Level Farm-focused Enterprise Development project. With the partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, and the Local Government Unit, BSNMPC was able to improve its dairy product processing enterprise and secure a license to operate (LTO) from the Food and Drugs Administration. In that same year, the DAR also provided funds for the improvement of its processing center located in Brgy. Bantog.
Before DAR’s intervention, the BSNMPC has been capacitated by the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), by providing the group with carabao heads for dairy production, as well as relevant training for carabao raising. Former ABONO Partylist Speaker Conrado M. Estrella III, who is the present Secretary of the DAR, also contributed greatly to the success of the cooperative. Sec. Estrella, along with senators Cynthia Villar and the late Leticia Shahani, provided equipment and infrastructure to BSNMPC, most notable of which is the ₱15 million two-story front building that now houses the enterprise’s primary processing operations.
However, all of this would have been in vain if it were not for the efforts of the Department of Education (DepEd) Pangasinan Division II. In 2020, DepEd Pangasinan II procured the services of BSNMPC for the agency’s School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) Milk Component. Being the only dairy-producing enterprise in Eastern Pangasinan, the ARBO has supplied pasteurized carabao milk to schoolchildren in Division II for two years, to DepEd’s 52,000 target beneficiaries in Pangasinan II.
The DAR began reporting the BSNMPC’s product sales with its marketing contract with the DepEd beginning CY 2021, which has since been recognized as one of the best outputs under the EPAHP in the entire country so far. The ARBO has sold a total of ₱255 million worth of products since 2019*, and has been recognized by the DAR Central Office as the top performing ARBOs under the hunger mitigation project.
Other ARBOs involved in the EPAHP
In addition to the abovementioned ARBOs, the DAR also recognizes the following farmer cooperatives under EPAHP: Rang-Ay Upland Integrated Farmers Association, Inc. of Bani and Aliguas Dumaralos na Buenlag, Inc. of Calasiao with the BJMP in Dagupan City; Carosalesan Irrigators Consumer Cooperative of Umingan and Evangelista Agrarian Reform Cooperative with the BJMP in Balungao; and Saint Pascal Baylon Multipurpose Cooperative in San Quintin with the Department of Agriculture.
Moving forward
As the country is slowly opening its doors to life similar to that before the pandemic, the needs of some institutional buyers are beginning to change, as well. In the case of the DepEd, schools nationwide have begun transitioning to full face-to-face classes. For the first time in two years, schoolchildren and teachers are flooding the hallways of schools. Another wave of the DepEd’s SBFP is expected to follow suit in the coming months.
EPAHP’s leading ARBO, BSNMPC, sees this as an opportunity to help fellow farmers grow. With the Asingan ARBO’s successful previous contracts with the DepEd, it has a high chance of winning the bid for the upcoming SBFP. With a potentially higher demand for this year’s feeding project, BSNMPC is eyeing vegetable-growing ARBOs to supply the former with fresh produce.
In anticipation of this, the DAR Pangasinan organized a series of marketing forums with the DepEd and vegetable-producing ARBOs. Farmer groups from Eastern, Western, and Central Pangasinan are drafting a supply plan that may be considered by the DepEd for inclusion in the SBFP’s Nutritional Food Pack and Milk components for pupils. Some ARBOs have also entered into a marketing agreement with BSNMPC that binds them to commit a portion of their produce to the latter if it wins the upcoming bid. This will give ARBOs a sustainable source of income, BSNMPC a steady and trusted source of fresh vegetables, and DepEd’s schoolchildren the nutritious food that they need.
“Hindi papayag ang Bantog (Samahang Nayon MPC) na kami lang nasa itaas,” BSNMPC Chairman Rolly Mateo shared during one of the forums with fellow ARBs. “Ayaw namin may nakikita na magsasaka na nasa laylayan.”
Although there is no saying what the future holds, it is certain at present that the EPAHP project, with the convergence of ARBOs, LGUs, and different government agencies, has fostered a partnership that is beyond eradicating hunger and poverty. (za) ###
