ZAMBOANGA CITY — A farmers’ cooperative in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay has received some PHP1.2 million worth of projects and assistance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Mohammad Dassan Adju, Zamboanga Sibugay agrarian officer, on Friday said the Del Monte Coconut Farmers Credit Cooperative (Delcofacco) in the town of Buug received a hauling truck, 20 units of weighing scales and rubber boots for the coop’s copra buy-and-sell business.
Adju said the source of fund of the project is the LinkSFarm or Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets program, with the municipality of Buug as the pilot area in Zamboanga Sibugay.
Meanwhile, Adju said Delcofacco is also a recipient of assistance under the village level farm-focused (VLFED) enterprise development program for their coco coffee processing and manufacturing, aside from LinkSFarm.
LinkSFarm and VLFED are nationwide projects of DAR that seeks to empower farmers into becoming agro-entrepreneurs.
Adju said Delcofacco received financial aid from DAR worth PHP550,000 for the construction of the coco-coffee processing center, for product enhancement and training, and for product laboratory testing.
He said Delcofacco, with the newly-built processing center, can now manufacture safe, quality and market ready coco-coffee products and increase the volume of its production.
During Wednesday’s turnover, Adju stressed to coop members the important role of the DAR in overseeing the status of farmer-beneficiaries after land distribution.
“DAR will continue doing its functions facilitating development especially in rural communities,” Adju said.
Delcofacco chairperson Violeta Cordero assured that the cooperative will responsibly maintain and sustain the project.
