1M ARMM folk to benefit from EU’s food-for-assets program

More than one million residents in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao stand to benefit from a P60-billion food-for-assets program funded by the European Union. The Department of Social Welfare and Development and ARMM government signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the program, the DSWD said. “We are heartened by the continuing support of the ARMM Government for the improvement of household food security in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and the generosity of the European Union, which allocated funds for this program, projected to benefit over one million people from poor farming communities in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao," DSWD undersecretary Alicia Bala said on the DSWD website. Bala and acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong signed the MOU along with World Food Programme Country Director Stephen Anderson. Witnessing the signing were Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of delegation of the European Union (EU) and DSWD Assistant Secretary Ruel Lucentales. The Food-for-Assets program is a project funded by the EU through its "€1 Billion Food Facility," equivalent to some P60 billion. It provides support to developing countries to help them cope with the worsening food insecurity caused by volatile food prices. Likewise, the food-for-assets program aims to restore and rehabilitate small-scale agricultural and environment infrastructures in poor and food-insecure areas in Central Mindanao through food-for-work and food-for-training. The program improves farmers’ productivity through the provision of food in exchange for labor on projects such as rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructures, farm-to-market roads, communal gardening and tree planting. Food will also be allocated to support relevant skills training in agriculture and environment. The EU-funded food-for-assets activities will be implemented in targeted food-insecure communities in five provinces within three regions in Mindanao, and in the ARMM provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. Under the MOU, the DSWD will oversee the overall implementation of the program in the ARMM areas, provide technical assistance on the appropriate interpretation of program policies, initiate coordination meetings to thresh out operational issues, and undertake project monitoring on behalf of the national government. The United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) will provide some 9,700 tons of rice and 970 tons of beans for work and training to some 1.1 million people from smallholder farming communities. — LBG, GMANews.TV