ARMM communities venture into organic food business

COTABATO CITY, (Sept.29) - Farming communities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are expected to be more productive with the regional government extending the necessary assistance in organic farming.ARMM will be assisting a number of farming communities venture into halal and organic food business as part of its livelihood support to more than 100 underserved communities in the region. The project, which is being handled by the ARMM Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Synergy (HELPS) program, will be piloted in Barangay Balas in Lamitan City. It will include the production and marketing of wholly organic products like chicken, fish and vegetable.On Saturday, ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman,Dr. Francisco Dela Peña, Jr., chief executive officer and president ofACES Polytechnic College (APC) in Panabo City,and Ibrahim Ballaho, chairman of Barangay Balas,signed an P8.5-million deal that includes the construction of farm facilities and the training of some 50 residents of Barangay Balas on organic agriculture. Hataman said a three-hectare site in Barangay Balas is being prepared to jumpstart the project.He said the project will be expanded to accommodate additional communities covered by the ARMM HELPS. APC, which runs a pioneering and successful organic farm, will provide the technical expertise in the development of feeds and food products that will be 100 percent free ofpreservatives, anti-biotic ingredients, synthetic additives and growth hormones. By 2015 this kind of project will be expanded to other ARMM provinces to intensify socio-economic development in the region,” Hataman said.