Malacañang welcomes today agri-fishery champions including outstanding coastal communities that have contributed to the steady growth of Philippine agriculture and to the sustainable management of the country’s coastal resources in the past year.
No less than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol will lead the recognition of 23 agri-fishery movers conferred outstanding under the Gawad Saka: Outstanding Farmers and Fisherfolk for their share in the national agriculture growth last year, which reached 3.95%.
Three coastal communities will also receive awards for their contribution in the marine resource protection and conservation, thru the Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan Search of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Gawad Saka is an annual competition conducted nationwide by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in partnership with Local Government Units (LGU’s), the academe, and the private sector. The search started in 1970 to give recognition and tribute to the exceptional contributions of Filipino farmers and fishers to the growth of the Philippine agriculture sector. Now on its forty-seventh year, hundreds of individuals and organizations have been awarded in their respective fields in agriculture.
Malinis at Masaganang Karagatan (MMK) also known as the National Search for Outstanding Coastal Community which is on its second year is a program implemented by the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. It is a nationwide search for outstanding coastal communities in the Philippines with exemplary initiatives on resource protection and conservation.
The winning coastal communities were chosen based on the following criteria: 1) No Illegal Fishing; 2) Observance of off-fishing season; 3) With declared marine protected areas; 4) Clean coastal waters without any garbage or industrial effluence flowing to the sea; 5) Effective mangrove protection and rehabilitation program.
MMK recognizes the efforts of the local government units in the continuous improvement of the coastal communities and execution of innovative ways to cope up with the changes within the fishing sector. It also corresponds to the Department’s intensified programs on food security, sufficiency, and sustainability.
Awardees will receive a trophy, a Presidential citation, cash prizes and project grants. Total cash prize for Gawad Saka amounts to P10.5-million (M), while MMK national winners will get a total of P58-M in the form of fishery livelihood projects. ### (photo by Christian Aleta, entry #23/2017 DA Photo Contest)
