Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Manny F. Piñol and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform Minister Mohammad S. Yacob signed several Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) during a meeting held on May 2, 2019.

The agriculture chiefs signed the MOA amounting to P303 million for agricultural development in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). They also discussed strategies to enhance the agriculture and fisheries sector in the new geopolitical entity.

Secretary Piñol said, “Let us schedule a workshop. Convene the municipal agriculture officers, provincial agriculture officers, and the stakeholders. Let us come up with a roadmap for the agricultural development of BARMM.”

The signed MOA included programs for high value crop development, construction of farm-to-market roads and solar-powered irrigation systems, and livestock development, among other banner programs.

“Our objective is to make farmers proud of their work by empowering them,” Yacob said.

He added that the Ministry will strengthen different program mechanisms especially in terms of service delivery, close coordination with stakeholders, technical support, provision of technologies, and regular monitoring to address the needs of farmers and fisherfolk.

“This time, we have to bring the government to them and make them feel that the government is here to support them,” he said. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)