In the Philippines, a big part of the population are the families who are living in the rural areas and most of the time, many of these families are struggling financially due to the residents’ common problem—lack of employment opportunities. To make a living and be able to sustain their families’ daily needs, the poverty-stricken people in the rural places support their families through agriculture. But because of the economic challenges that the farmers and fishermen face resulting to low profits and even income losses, these families struggle to improve their quality of life in the rural.
To provide livelihood and help improve the lives of families in the rural areas, the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 5 (DA RFO5) through the Regional Food Laboratory in partnership with the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur, conducted the Training on Food Processing and Value-Adding on August 23, 2022 at DA RFO5, San Agustin, Pili, Camarines Sur. A total of 37 rural women from Iriga City, Libmanan, and Ocampo attended the said training.
Under the training, brief discussions on personal hygiene and proper food handling and preparation as well as the overview of products to be processed were conducted prior to the product hands-on demonstration. The products that were demonstrated are vegetable-made siomai, cookies and empanada, and buchi made of malunggay filled with sweetened munggo. Participants prepared and presented the four products and had a product taste test. The cost or price analysis was also discussed afterwards.
“Malaking tulong po sa aming mga kababaihan ang aming mga natutunan dito dahil pwede namin itong gamitin araw-araw para kumita. Napakaimportante na mayroong ganitong programa ang DA at ang probinsya dahil ang ating hanapbuhay sa pang-araw-araw ay hindi lamang binibigay o sa lalake lamang na responsibilidad. Dapat nagtutulungan dito ang mag-asawa,” said 61-year-old Nida Toralde from Sagrada, Iriga City. Toralde is the Vice President of the Federation of Women’s Organization- Iriga City.
She gratefully added, “Kaya nagpapasalamat po kami sa Department of Agriculture sa mga pa-training nila sa mga kababaihan lalo na sa mga walang trabaho. Ngayon ay makakatulong na sila sa mga pangangailangan ng kanilang pamilya. Sana po marami pa kayong trainings para po matulungan ang lahat ng pamilyang nangangailangan. At thank you very much din po sa Provincial Government lalo na kay Governor Luigi at Congressman Migz Villafuerte. Sana po marami pa kayong matulungan na mga kababaihan na makapag-training sa livelihood.”
Another beneficiary is 59-year-old President of the Rural Improvement Club (RIC), Myrna Peñaflorida from Hibago, Ocampo whose main goal as a leader is to empower her fellow women in their community to be courageous and to learn ways on earning money on their own to help their husbands support their families financially. Peñaflorida said, “Magayunon an mga programa na arog kaini na mga training ta nakakatabang para sa pagha-hanapbuhay kan mga arog mi na dae man nagoopisina, kumbaga mga simpleng housewife asin mga nanay. Nakakatabang ini ta nagkakaigwa kami ning another source of income para makatabang sa samong pamilya. Bilang lider, makakatabang man ini sa samong komunidad para mapahiling mi na kun kaya mi, kaya man ninda.”
“Kaya salamat po sa DA na nagfa-facilitate ning mga arog kaining training. Nagpapasalamat man po ako sa mga tabang na itinatao kan probinsya partikularmente an mga livelihood training na pigpapaabot sa mga Women’s Club lalung-lalo na sa mga suportang arog kaini. Sana dae magsawa si Governor Luigi Villafuerte lalo na sa mga nasa rural para lalong madagdagan an kaaraman asin magkaigwa ning hanapbuhay,” she gratefully added.
With the aim to provide sustainable livelihood programs as well as to empower women especially the disadvantaged in the rural areas of the province, the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur is in full support through the initiatives and collaborative efforts with various government agencies that works to provide significant changes in the lives of the struggling Camarinenses.
