ANTIQUE — Topic on backyard gardening has been highlighted by the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program every time during the conduct of Family Development Session (FDS).

Practically, this has been taken seriously by beneficiaries of Baranagay Igabarabatuan, Anini-y, Antique as they find their place profitable for this kind of investment.

Added to their interest, the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) has augmented the 4Ps beneficiaries and NHTS non-poor of the said barangay, specifically in the improvement of their socio-economic capacity through the provision of skills training for micro-enterprise development.

Recipients were provided training on High Value Crop Production (Level 1 and 2) to increase their knowledge and skills for higher productivity as well as profitability which currently provide a stable source of income. After the training, all trainees were given starter kits.

Baranagay Igabarabatuan is also known as Barangay Milagrosa, where most of the households are maintaining their own backyard gardens which produce fresh and nutritious vegetables such as squash, ampalaya, tomatoes, moringga, lemon grass, papaya, okra, string beans, and other green leafy vegetables such as kangkong and kamote tops. The seeds were provided by the Department of Agriculture of Anini-y as the Department’s partner implementer.

Success cannot be called a success without challenges. Like the scorching heat and water shortage in the area that put so much work for our beneficiaries. The struggle is real especially during dry season because they have to fetch water from the stream, more or less 200 meters away from their gardens.

However, through this practice, it gave impact to the lives of the Pantawid Pamilya households especially in strengthening cooperation and camaraderie.

According to Ria Mae Nualda, municipal link of Anini-y, most of the households saved a lot of their daily expenses because of their gardens more so that their family members became healthier (low incidence of malnourishment in the barangay).

She added that through their backyard gardening and farm demo products, some members are now generating income.

“Moreover, the community held hand in hand to help each other obtain their goal; only shows that solidarity and unity is still possible to achieve,” she stressed./Photo credit to ML Nualda.//MGC 
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