The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has partnered with Charoen Phokpand Foods Philippines, Thailand’s biggest agricultural and food company, the Development Bank of the Philippines and a Mindanao agri-business company to establish community poultry and hog farms in areas affected by the recent earthquakes in Mindanao.
The project, dubbed Livelihood Opportunities in Villages for Economic Upliftment (LOVE-U), is designed to help calamity victims recover and become self-reliant.
The LOVE-U Project will also be implemented in other villages in Mindanao with very high poverty incidence levels.
In a meeting with MinDA earlier this week, CPF Philippines Executives Sakol Cheewakoset and Udomsak Aksorphakdee committed to establish at least two model farms – one of hogs and another for poultry – in the earthquake affected areas by the First Quarter of 2020.
Other farms will be established in other areas, especially for earthquake victims who had to be relocated because of risks posed by landslides in their mountain villages.
Under the program, MinDA will organise earthquake victims into cooperatives or associations, some to run the MinDA Tienda Outlets and the others to operate the poultry and hog farms to be established in their communities.
Linking up with its partner the Development Bank of the Philippines, MinDA will work on the grant of loans for the establishment of a common service facility needed for the poultry and hog projects.
The poultry and hog farms will be located in a specific area where the cooperative members could go to everyday and work on their community projects.
CPF Philippines will provide the piglets, chicks, feeds and veterinary services for the farms after which it will buy the produce of the farmers.
After deducting the cost of the piglets, chicks and feeds, CPF Philippines will turn over to the farmers cooperative the profits gained from the project.
CPF Philippines is linking up with a South Cotabato company, iFreshCorporation, for the implementation of the project.
iFresh Corporation will provide the tolling services for the feeds, hatchery and slaughter and dressing plants for the produce.
“We are willing to do this in other disaster affected areas so we could help people recover while at the same time contribute to the growth of Philippine agricultural economy,” Sakol told MinDA during the meeting in Manila Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, MinDA, CPF Philippines and iFresh Corporation will present to the DBP President and Directors the project proposal.
(Photos of the poultry and hog farms were downloaded from public websites while succeeding photos show meetings between MinDA Chairman Sec. Manny Piñol and officials of CPF Philippines, iFresh Corporation and DBP President Emmanuel Barbosa.)
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