Cotabato City (July 29, 2020)— Ministries of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy (MENRE), Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), Interior and Local Government (MILG), and the World Food Programme (WFP) inked a memorandum of agreement on Wednesday for the establishment of a convergence model which aims to sustain income-generating activities to support integrated rural development in the Bangsamoro region.
The model also envisions an increase in agricultural and agro-forestry products in the region. It will be implemented through the MENRE’s ‘Integrated Bangsamoro Greening Program (IBGP) and ‘Kayod ka, Bangsamoro’ (KKB), MAFAR’s Basic Integration of Harmonized Intrvention (BINHI) program, and MILG’s Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Change Adaptation (DRR-CCA) program.
The MAFAR will cater the supply of vegetable seeds, training for farmers, and the establishment of market linkages. On the other hand, the MILG committed to lead the implementation and mainstreaming of the Convergence Area Development Plan among the local government units and beneficiary communities. Moreover, the WFP will provide remunerations to ‘Palaw Rangers’ while waiting for harvesting period.
Palaw Rangers, who are Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants waiting to be decommissioned, will aid in the establishment and sustaining of these ‘survival gardens’ to ensure productivity and output efficiency.
“We are looking forward to this collaboration, the Convergence, its promising outputs, and to how it would help the Bangsamoro communities,” said BARMM Executive Secretary Abdulraof Macacua, also the concurrent MENRE minster.
Macacua also said the convergence will be implemented from September 2020 to March 2021.
Meanwhile, WFP Deputy Country Director Mats Persson, who attended the ceremony thru video conference, said WFP is determined to provide assistance to all concerned ministries on the development and enhancement of the convergence model.
Also present during Wednesday’s MOA signing were MAFAR Minister Mohammad Yacob, BPDA Director General Mohajirin Ali, and Dir. Khalid Dumagay who represented MILG Minister Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo. (Bureau of Public Information)
