Despair To Hope! Former KAPA Village Now A Contour Farming Model

The Bla’an Tribal Community of Balnabo, San Jose, General Santos City thought that their dream of being lifted out of poverty had come in 2018when a financing group came to the village to lease 60 hectares of their over 700-hectare ancestral land to be planted to Cavendish Banana.
With the advanced lease on the land planted to Cavendish banana and the jobs that local residents had, including a water system with a 9-kilometer pipe from the spring to the community, the Bla’ans thought the days of hunger and want were over.
Then suddenly, in 2020, everything stopped and the new-found hope of the tribal people suddenly disappeared.
The financing group, KAPA Community Ministry or Kabus Padatuon (Enrich The Poor), turned out to be involved in a Ponzi Investment Scheme.
When the Banana farm shut down and KAPA ceased operations, everything collapsed for the Bla’ans in the Balnabo Area, not only because they lost their work, but also because just like many others, they hitched their stars on KAPA and invested everything they had in the Ponzi scheme.
It was another tribal leader, Manobo Pastor Radin Igwas of Kidapawan City who told my brother, Ferdinand, of the KAPA abandoned area which could be a potential Sorghum farming area for our young agricultural company, Southseas Agri-Aqua Ventures, Inc..
When I visited the village late last year, I met with the leaders of the tribe and I sensed the desperation not only because of the KAPA tragedy but also mainly because they had not received much attention from government.
Today, the Bla’ans have found new hope with the entry of the SAAV, Inc. headed by former Senator Panfilo Lacson with me and Rocky French, the Filipino-American scientist working on the ground.
While the arable area for Sorghum farming is only about 200 hectares, Rocky and I agreed that we could introduce the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) developed by the Mt. Carmel Baptist Rural Life Assembly in Bansalan, Davao Del Sur.
The sloping areas of the ancestral land will be planted with hedgerows of Pigeon Peas or “Kadyos” and in between the hedgerows, we will plant Sorghum using the Zero-Tillage Technology.
With the availability of Sorghum grains and silage, we will introduce Free-Range Chicken Farming and the raising of Cattle and Goats to the community.
Yesterday, I visited the village again with Rocky French with a technical team from the SAAV Inc. main office sent by Senator Lacson to survey the area.
Hopefully, before 2023 ends, life will be better for the gentle people of the community and they will see hope for a better life again.

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