The Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office Cordillera Administrative Region (DSWD FO CAR) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) CAR, Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)-CAR, and Bureau of Plant Industry commenced the Training on Gulayan sa Barangay (GSB) for Parent Leaders (PLs) of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
The training aims to strengthen the skills of the PLs in maintaining their GSB as one of the activities for the beneficiaries’ monthly Family Development Session.
The PLs serve as the main link of the field staff with their fellow beneficiaries who assist in the dissemination of information and updates, follow-up / monitor commitments, and compliance to the program conditions on health and education.
“This intervention for our 4Ps Parent Leaders is a product of convergence. We are elated that DA and ATI offered their resources and services for this activity. We hope that our PLs would adopt new agricultural technologies that could benefit their communal gardens to ensure nutritious and sufficient food supply,” DSWD CAR Regional Director Arnel B. Garcia, CESO II said.
The first batch of training for the PLs of Abra jump started on July 6-7, 2022 at the Mt. Carmel Agri-Tourism and Training Center, Inc., Bangued, Abra. The second batch was conducted from July 12-15, 2022 for the PLs of Baguio City and Benguet.
Meanwhile, PLs from the provinces of Ifugao and Kalinga will catch the training on August 16-19, 2022 in Banaue and Tabuk City. For Mountain Province and Apayao, the activity is slated on August 9-10, 2022 and August 23-26, 2022 respectively.
The topics of the training are on Vegetable Crop Production, Urban/Home Gardening, Compost and Composting, Natural Farming Systems, and other side topics on Group Facilitation and Management.
The GSB training for the PLs of Abra and Kalinga was funded by DA-CAR while the rest of the batches were funded by the DSWD-CAR. Meanwhile, ATI-CAR committed their expert services as subject matter expert for the entire batch. DSWD CAR’s Civil Society Organization (CSO) partner Seed Project Asia, Philippines also shared their expertise during the Baguio-Benguet batch.
As of June 2022, about 60% of household beneficiaries in the region are engaged in GSB while 83% manage their own backyard gardens.
The GSB is a convergence initiative that aims to encourage individuals, families and communities of the 4Ps to implement community gardening activities that promote food production at the household and community level and ensure provision and access to fresh, organically produced and nutritionally rich foods to the Pantawid family members, especially children, towards nutrient sufficiency and food security. ### DSWD-CAR, Social Marketing Unit, Marlo C. Abyado Jr., Pantawid Pamilya Information Officer
