COTABATO CITY—Farmers in the upland village of Labungan in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte are expected to benefit from the Bangsamoro Government’s 4.6-kilometer Farm-to-Market (FMR) road, following a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.
Worth Php69,492,196.6, the construction of the said project, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), is to be completed on or before Oct. 27, 2023, or within 378 calendar days.
MAFAR Minister Mohammad Yacob said the road will stimulate the grassroots economy and empower farmers. The minister assured that MAFAR will always help the farmers meet development and better living in the future.
“This project will change your life as a farmer. It will transform this rural community into trade, it will help gain better prizes and reduce the risk of products lost which will lead to better farmer’s life,” Yacob said.
Meanwhile, MAFAR Director for Agriculture Services Engr. Ismael Guiamel mentioned the benefits of the FMR to poor farmers.
“This FMR could give various benefits to our farmers such as easy access to their farm products, low cost of transportation, and increase their profits which eventually, could alleviate their living conditions,” Director Guiamel.
The community’s Barangay Chairman Murad Campong, on behalf of his constituents, expressed his deepest gratitude to the regional government for concreting roads that will connect the farmland to the main road going to market.
“I really believed that development in remote areas will be very difficult to meet unless there is an access like roads,” Campong said.
The Ministry assured that similar projects will be implemented in other farm areas with less access to roads. (Kasan Usop, Jr./BIO)
