9 November 2021, Cagayan de Oro City – As part of the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger & Poverty (EPAHP) initiative, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) -Irrigators Association (IA) conducted the Market Matching Convergence last 3 November 2021 held at Chali Resort and Conference Center, Gusa Cagayan de Oro City.
Attended and participated by six (6) select regional EPAHP partners, namely, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health Center for Health Development – Northern Mindanao (DOH CHD-NM), National Food Authority (NFA) and National Nutrition Council (NNC) X. Representatives from the IAs were also present during the event.
The limited face-to-face encounter was enabled by NIA's efforts to organize the partners in one accord for a thorough discussion. Ms. Leonila E. Tenestrante, Division Manager for Engineering & Operations of NIA, gave her thoughts as she graciously welcomed the attendees. "This is just the beginning of a long partnership that will benefit not only us but also the farmers, workers, and those affected by hunger and malnutrition through the food commodities that our association can supply," she said in her message.
The program objectives were presented by Ms. Rosalida P. Patiño, NIA Institutional Development Unit Chief. Highlight of her message was to seek out potential Marketing Agreements with the EPAHP partners to secure the stable income of the farmers and to expand the association's prospects.
Market Demand Analyses were presented to the participants, each of whom coming from different agencies. On behalf of NNC X Nutrition Program Coordinator, Ms. Gladys Mae S. Fernandez, Provincial Nutrition Focal Point, Gwyn Y. Balaba briefly reviewed the overall highlights and structure of Tutok Kainan Dietary Supplementation Program (TK DSP) for the participants' ready information.
An open forum was held to air queries, the majority of which were related to potential marketing agreements with partner agencies. In the case of NNC X, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Marketing Agreement (MA) were signed with the DAR as the partner, making it exclusive for the Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Organizations (ARBOs) to supply food commodities to the recipient Local Government Unit (LGUs), as stated also in the TK DSP Guidelines. However, the BJMP, DOH CHD-NM, and NFA have decided to work more closely in the future to meet the demand for the food commodities among their target population.
The EPAHP-NIA Market Matching Convergence's success was simply the beginning of a potential future alliance. The principal purpose is to help farmers in marketing their products and ensuring that they have a stable stream of income. More families will have access to safe, fresh, affordable, and nutritious food because of these. Thus, it is paving the way for the country to be spared from the menace of malnutrition. (PNFP Gwyn Y. Balaba)
