At 55 years old, Roni Valenzuela of Barangay Quezon, Baras in Catanduanes is yet to retire from alternating between two jobs—one as a construction worker and another as farmhand—to make sure that their youngest child will finish college next year.
His wife Roliza, 52, helps him by selling the produce harvested from their 100-square-meter vegetable farm at their backyard. With her meager earnings, the family is able to pay for household bills.
Until, on March 24, 2015, Roni received a P10,000 loan from the local government for a swine-fattening business through the local replication of the Government of Japan’s Agrikultura: Kaagapay ng Bayang Pinoy (AKBay) Program.
Where it all started
AKBay is a targeted poverty-reduction program that helps its beneficiaries start sustainable agri-based livelihood projects.
Implemented by the Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with the then National Agricultural and Fishery Council and now the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries Council, it is funded under the Japan Grant Assistance for Food Security Project for Underprivileged Farmers (2KR).
The program is intended for the poorest households in farming and fishing communities in 31 priority provinces identified in the government’s Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program. This is in support to the attainment of Millennium Development Goal 1, “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.”
The Japan-assisted AKBay Program provides start-up funds worth up to P10,000 for each household-beneficiary. It is expected that the farm-household will be able to pay back the assistance fund starting from the second to the third year after the start of the project, at zero interest rate.
The funds recovered from the projects are pooled into a Roll-Over Fund or ROF which is used to assist other households from within the province where the original project fund was allocated.
Aside from financial assistance, AKBay also extends technical assistance in project identification, project proposal writing/development, and project implementation. It also assists in marketing the goods produced by each household under the program.
In 2011, 26 households in Baras became beneficiaries of the 2KR-assisted AKBay Program. It grew to 28 in 2012 under the second tranche and turned to benefit 101 more through the ROF.
Municipal AKBay Coordinator Pablo Tayangona noted the positive impact of the program in the fifth class municipality where agriculture is the main source of livelihood.
“AKBay helps augment the income of the families here in Baras. It is a huge opportunity for the beneficiaries to be able to stand on their own feet,” Tayangona shared.
He added that, in fact, the beneficiaries themselves go to his office to repay the financial assistance from AKBay and do not just wait for him to collect the money. Hence, in 2014, Baras recorded the highest replenishment among the eight municipalities helped by the AKBay Program in Catanduanes.
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| Baras Mayor Rodel Abichuela (in checkered polo) with the awardees of the second ROF of the 2KR-assisted AKBay Program in Catanduanes during the celebration of the Women’s Month in 2013. |
In 2013, Baras Mayor Rodel Abichuela graced the awarding ceremony for the beneficiaries of the program’s second ROF. There, he saw the sustainability being provided by the program to his constituents
Determined to alleviate poverty in Baras, Mayor Abichuela decided to replicate AKBay locally and allocated P230,000 worth of funds under the local government unit’s (LGU) 2015 budget which benefited a total of 23 beneficiaries which include Roni.
Furthermore, the mayor had also pledged to shoulder the notarial fee of the acknowledgement receipts of the recipients to avoid additional expense on the part of the farmers.
With the help of Provincial AKBay coordinator Nelia Teves, the Municipal Agricultural Office made a few adjustments in the guidelines to adapt to the local conditions.
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| Municipal Agricultural Office OIC and Municipal AKBay Coordinator Pablo Tayangona, Jr. (far left, in pink) together with Baras government officials, during the awarding ceremony of the locally funded AKBay Program. |
“For the locally funded AKBay Program, we decided that the beneficiaries should be enterprising poor — meaning families with monthly income of below P5,000 but have the capacity to manage agri projects. With this, we could expect that the beneficiaries would be able to pay back the financial assistance within a year at zero interest rate and with no collateral, as with Japan’s AKBay Program,” Tayangona explained.
According to Tayangona, most of the projects that the AKBay beneficiaries in Baras engage in are on swine-breeding and fattening, like the Valenzuelas.
“Using the financial assistance, beneficiaries can purchase two heads of swine at around P2,500 each and the rest of the money would usually go to the feeds. After four to six months, they would then be able to sell the pigs at around P110 per kilogram liveweight at the local market. At that time, a pig would usually have a liveweight of around 100 kilograms,” Tayangona said.
They could choose to sell both their pigs and buy one sow for breeding or they could also sell one and leave the other to be used as breeder — like what the Valenzuelas are planning to do.
Tayangona added that the beneficiaries are required to undergo orientation so that they would be able to manage their projects effectively.
With the implementation of both the Japanese Government’s and the Baras LGU’s AKBay programs, two to three families in all the 29 barangays in Baras are now engaged in agri-based enterprise.
Where dreams lead
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Baras Municipal AKBay Coordinator speaks to beneficiaries of the locally funded AKBay Program.
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Next year, the Baras municipal government hopes to benefit 100 more households under the locally funded AKBay Program.
Aside from livestock, Tayangona hopes that the beneficiaries could also engage in fishery projects.
"The risk is high especially as Baras is prone to natural calamities but we do hope to help fishing families here improve their lives as well,” Tayangona said.
To ensure the sustainability of the projects, Tayangona himself conducts regular monitoring at the field in spite of various challenges. Using what little income he has, Tayangona pays for his own fuel usage during these trips.
A father of three, 48-year-old Tayangona has been with the local government for 21 years. Aside from AKBay, Tayangona also coordinates activities under agricultural programs for 4H Club and rural women.
Being a farmer himself, he says that he is glad to see his fellowmen slowly rise from poverty through agricultural projects.
“I am happy that I get to be an agent of change. I don’t earn much from what I do but, for me, it is enough that I am able to help improve life in this town and be able to reach this ultimate dream,” Tayangona said.
He, together with the Valenzuelas, hopes that both the 2KR-assisted and the locally funded AKBay programs will be sustained for many more years and care for more poor families, as what the Filipino word ‘akbay’—which is literally having one’s arm over another’s shoulder—signifies.
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