Developing barangay and home food gardens to expand the food base at the community level; encourage enterprise development; and provide poor communities food with better nutrition.
These are some of the specific objectives of the national program titled “Sapat at masustansiyang pagkain sa bawat tahanan (Sufficient nutritious food in every household)”, a project funded by the United Nation Development Program (UNDP), which generally aims to develop a model to ensure food security and nutrition in the Philippines.
Led by Dr. Zacarias A. Baluscang Jr. of the Apayao State College (ASC), the project was presented during the 21st Highland Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (HARRDEC) and 1st Joint HARRDEC-Cordillera Industry and Energy Research and Development Consortium Regional Symposium on Research Development Extension Highlights.
Implemented in Talifugo, Karikitan, and Conner, Apayao, this developmental activity penetrates the most vulnerable areas and engages the whole family, especially the woman-members.
With ASC, a partner member agency of HARRDEC, one of the 14 regional consortia of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), as cooperating organization, the program conducts different developmental activities in connection with food production. These are Garden in Every Home, Fruit tree in Every Home, Native Chicken Production in Every Home, and Organic Production in Every Home.
Under these activities, seeds are loaned out to recipients at an affordable amount to produce foods for the families’ own consumption and for sale. The loan out system also include fruit trees which are repaid with a corresponding number of shoots to be reloaned to other beneficiaries, as well as native chicken and equipment for poultry production. The project also conducts training courses on vermi-composting technology.
The SAPAT Food Security Gardens established by the project served as a training facility and seed conservation area. The gardens with 25 plots planted to 24 kinds of vegetables provided SAPAT recipients with a diversified food resource base on vegetables, legumes, and rootcrops.
ASC, through its partners, also established the first School-Based Food Security Garden in four elementary schools and one national high school.
Project beneficiaries say that SAPAT enhances the capacities of the food-poor pilot communities to develop and manage resources and ultimately attain self-sufficiency in producing nutritious food.
The SAPAT Project obtained its UNDP funds through the National Anti-Poverty Commission.