Shortly after I assumed office as Secretary of Agriculture, I introduced a program called Special Area for Agricultural Development or SAAD which in the Cebuano language means “Promise.”
I conceptualized SAAD when I was Governor of North Cotabato and it simply identified areas with high poverty incidence which were given extra attention and assistance by the provincial government.
The benchmark of the success of the interventions were poverty reduction and improved production.
The most dramatic story of success was that of a mountain farmer named Arnaldo Berber, whom I met in one of my sorties in the remote area of Mahongkog, Magpet.
Dirt poor and unable to send his children to school, the SAAD program provided him with a working carabao, plow and corn seeds.
When I met him again two years later, his children were already in school and he was able to buy a small lot in the village proper where he built a modest house.
The Arnaldo Berber story serves as constant reminder to me that out there in the remote areas of this country, there are many more poor people waiting for government to touch their lives.
In the SAAD program of the Department of Agriculture, 10 Poorest Provinces were identified each year and special interventions were provided based on the needs of the people.
Funding for SAAD projects came on top of the regular funding for each region.
Almost three years into its implementation, I have been listening to stories and narratives from SAAD beneficiaries like this woman from Saranggani Province.
The impact of the SAAD program has also been reflected in the report of the Philippine Statistics Authority which identified the program, along with the Easy Access Credit Program of the DA, as two of the programs of government which contributed to poverty reduction and increased productivity.
Sadly, stories like this woman’s will not be included in the computation on the growth of Agriculture in this country.
As for me and the members of the DA family, the plot of the story that we are writing revolves around lives of people who produce food for this country.
These stories do not have Quarterly Chapters but continuing narratives of how this government endeavours to care for the farmers and fishermen.
Agriculture is not just about food production but also about ensuring that the poor farmers who produce the food are also lifted out of poverty.
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