Smallholder producers in Maguindanao complete 16-week FAO-facilitated FBS course under New Zealand-supported livelihoods-for-peace in Mindanao project
The farmer business school aimed to improve the participants� farm business management skills to complement their production and product diversification competencies, thereby making them more responsive to the changing demands and needs of markets. This, in turn, gives them more opportunities to improve their livelihoods and boost their incomes.
At a graduation ceremony held on 9 March in Barangay Karim, Buldon Municipality, Province of Maguindanao del Norte, 30 smallholder producers -- members of the Karim Agricultural Supply Cooperative -- received their certificates of completion of the 16-week Farm Business School (FBS) course conducted by FAO under the auspices of the New Zealand-backed "Support to Agriculture-based Livelihoods and Agribusiness Enterprise for Sustainable Peace and Development in Maguindanao and Cotabato” initiative.
The cooperative is one of 52 community based organizations (CBOs) being supported by the project. Of the 30 graduates, 18 are men and 12 are women.
The FBS aimed to improve the participants’ farm business management skills to complement their production and product diversification competencies, thereby making them more responsive to the changing demands and needs of markets. This, in turn, gives them more opportunities to improve their livelihoods and boost their incomes.
Acmad Manalao, a member of the CBO and one of the graduates, in his speech at the FBS graduation ceremony thanked FAO and the New Zealand Government for extending help to their CBO and their community.
"It is seldom that we get assistance from development agencies because of how far and isolated our village is, so we are truly grateful to FAO and New Zealand for this project as we not only got inputs but, more importantly, new skills and knowledge that we could use to improve our lives," he said.
Apart from skills training, the cooperative also received goats from the project to kick-start their livelihood enterprise.
"For some of us, this is the first-ever 'certificate' that we got for completing a training course. As our community has been affected by conflict for years, this limited the learning opportunities available to us," Acmad added.
Also present at the FBS graduation ceremony were Buldon Mayor Pahmia A. Manalao, Buldon local government unit personnel, local staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), and FAO project team members.